title: Circulating regulatory T cells (CD4+CD25+FOXP3+) decrease in breast cancer patients after vaccination with a modified MHC class II HER2/neu (AE37) peptide.
abstract: Regulatory T cells (T(Reg)), CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+), are implicated in suppressing tumor immune responses. We analyzed peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from breast cancer patients receiving a modified HLA class II HER2/neu peptide (AE37) vaccine for T(Reg) cells and correlated their levels with vaccine-specific immune responses. The mean CD4(+)CD25(+)FOXP3(+) T(Reg) cells decreased in patients with vaccination with no significant difference in serum TGF-β levels. IFN-γ ELISPOT and DTH increased after vaccination with a good correlation between T(Reg) cell reduction and size of DTH to AE37. The T(Reg) cell reduction and associated immune response suggest that AE37 may be clinically useful.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, General Surgery Service, Brooke Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX 78234, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Gates
authors.forename: Guy T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Clifton
authors.forename: Linda C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Benavides
authors.forename: Alan K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sears
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Carmichael
authors.forename: Matthew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Hueman
authors.forename: Jarrod P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: Yusuf H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Jama
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mursal
authors.forename: Athina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zacharia
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ciano
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khoo
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stojadinovic
authors.forename: Sathibalan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ponniah
authors.forename: George E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Peoples
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005802:Genes, MHC Class II; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; C530655:AE37 vaccine