Cancer Immunity, Vol. 8, p. 8 (24 April 2008)
Maurizio Chiriva-Internati1,2,3, Everardo Cobos1,2, Diane M. Da Silva4 and W. Martin Kast3,4
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Southwest Cancer Treatment and Research Center, Lubbock, TX, USA
2Division of Hematology & Oncology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Southwest Cancer Treatment and Research Center, Lubbock, TX, USA
3Kiromic Inc., Lubbock, TX, USA
4Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Departments of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology and Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Cancer vaccines have been demonstrated to be a promising strategy for treating human neoplastic disease, but one of the limitations of these vaccines remains the paucity of target antigens to which to direct an effective immune response. We hypothesize that sperm fibrous sheath proteins may be a new class of useful antigens for developing successful cancer vaccines. This hypothesis is supported by the expression of two sperm fibrous sheath proteins, called sperm protein 17 and calcium-binding tyrosine-phosphorylation regulated protein, in tumors of unrelated histological origin and their capability to induce T cell-based immune responses.
Copyright © 2008 by W. Martin Kast