title: HLA-A24 and survivin: possibilities in therapeutic vaccination against cancer.
abstract: Recently, it was described that an HLA-A24 restricted peptide derived from the survivin splice variant survivin-2B can be recognized by CD8+ cytotoxic T-cells. The identification of an HLA-A24 epitope is critical for survivin-based immunotherapy as HLA-24 is the most frequent HLA allele in Asia. Consequently, this survivin-2B epitope is already a target in a clinical study in patients with advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer expressing survivin. However, the splice variant survivin-2B has been described to be pro-apoptotic, and is only expressed at low levels in most malignant tissues. Furthermore, survivin-2B expression are significantly decreased in later tumor stages and inversely correlated with tumor differentiation and invasion. Consequently, survivin is a more general vaccination candidate than the splice variant survivin-2B. Here, we on the basis of spontaneous immune responses in HLA-A24+ cancer patients describes that a HLA-A24-restricted survivin epitopes does indeed exist. Consequently, this epitope is an attractive target for the ongoing survivin-based peptide immunotherapy against cancer.
authors.forename: Mads Hald
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Rikke B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Soerensen
authors.forename: Jürgen C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: thor Straten