Abstract
Evaluation of: Odunsi K, Qian F, Matsuzaki J et al. Vaccination with an NY-ESO-1 peptide of HLA class I/II specificities induces integrated humoral and T cell responses in ovarian cancer. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104[31], 12837–12842 (2007).
NY-ESO-1 is a cancer testis antigen, a family in which MAGE is a better-known example. It was discovered 10 years ago and has rapidly progressed into clinical trials with over 30 studies present to date. Being an embryological related antigen present on the testes, it is also present on the ovaries and this paper reports the testing of an epitope of this antigen that is recognized by both HLA class-I and class-II restricted CD8+ T cells. In this study, 18 HLA- DP4+ ovarian cancer patients with minimal disease burden were given repeated vaccinations with this peptide mixed with an incomplete Freund’s adjuvant (Montanide ISA51). The claim in the paper is that this protocol induces integrated humoral and T-cell responses in ovarian cancer. However, there are a number of concerns regarding the actual data.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The author had no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.