Last Updated: 04/06/07
Toward a Fully Synthetic Carbohydrate-Based Anticancer Vaccine
Vaccines are a new and potentially powerful approach to the treatment and prevention of cancer. The possibility is that a vaccine will elicit an immunological response to cancer. Some types of cancer cells, including those of the breast, colon, and prostate, exhibit cell-surface carbohydrates not found on normal cells. Efforts are being made to develop a vaccine that will induce antibodies against these tumor-associated carbohydrates.
To be effective, a vaccine will need to induce predominantly powerful IgG type antibodies, produced after activation of helper T cells, rather than the relatively weak IgM type antibodies initially produced by B cells. Success to date has been quite limited because the traditional approach of synthesizing two-component vaccines employing a tumor-associated carbohydrate and a carrier protein had resulted in a predominately IgM response with insufficient IgG response.
However, DTP-supported research has led to development of a carbohydrate anticancer vaccine that elicits a strong IgG antibody response. This vaccine consists of three synthetic components: a carbohydrate known as Tn antigen found only on cancer cells, a small peptide known to activate T cells, and a fatty acid substituted peptide adjuvant (immune booster). This three-part construct was used to immunize mice, which subsequently exhibited high ratios of IgG to IgM antibodies against the Tn tumor-specific carbohydrate. Innovative aspects of this work include the specific three-component design employed and the successful strategies used to synthesize and link the three components.
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