title: Identification of HER2/ neu-derived peptides capable of inducing both cellular and humoral immune responses in HLA-A24 positive breast cancer patients.
abstract: HRE2/neu-specific cellular and humoral immune responses are often detected in breast cancer patients, but identification of more immunogenic CTL epitope peptides is necessary prior to development of a cancer vaccine. There is accumulating evidence of strong immunogenicity of peptides capable of inducing both cellular and humoral immune responses. To identify such peptides, this study intended to determine HER2/neu-derived peptides capable of inducing both cellular and humoral immunity in HLA-A24(+) breast cancer patients. IgGs reactive to the HER2(342-350), HER2(485-493), and HER2(553-561) peptides were detected in the sera of these patients with the frequency of 47, 24, and 24%, respectively. These peptides also induced peptide-specific and tumor-reactive CTL activity in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HLA-A24(+) breast cancer patients with the frequency of 50, 63, and 25%, respectively, but such activity was not induced from any HLA-A24(-) patients. Cellular and humoral responses to each of these three peptides were also observed in PBMCs and sera from the other epithelial cancer patients. These results may provide a scientific basis for new clinical trials of HER2/neu-peptide-based immunotherapy for breast cancer and also other epithelial cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Azuma
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shichijo
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shomura
authors.forename: Satoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsueda
authors.forename: Teruhiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Kyogo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itoh
mesh_terms: D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000187:drug effects; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D059871:HLA-A24 Antigen; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D059871:HLA-A24 Antigen; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases