Abstract 5633: Development of glycoconjugate-based anticancer vaccines

Abstract

Abstract The development of an effective vaccine construct against tumor associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs) is an attractive approach towards cancer treatment and prevention. However, a significant challenge is that TACAs are only weakly immunogenic and direct administration of TACAs cannot elicit a powerful antibody response to protect the host from cancer development. In this presentation, we will present our strategies to significantly enhance the immunogenicity of TACAs as potential anti-cancer vaccines using mucin-1 (MUC1) as a representative antigen. Mucin-1 (MUC1) is one of the top ranked tumor associated antigens. MUC1 peptides and glycopeptides have been covalently conjugated to an immunogenic carrier. Immunization of mice with these constructs led to super strong antibody responses with IgG titers over one million, which are one of the highest IgG titers reported to date. Furthermore, the constructs elicited MUC1 specific cytotoxic T cells, which can selectively kill MUC1 positive tumor cells. The abilities of MUC1 conjugates to induce both antibody and cytotoxic T cell immunity targeting tumor cells highlight the potential of these constructs as anti-tumor vaccines. Citation Format: Xuefei Huang. Development of glycoconjugate-based anticancer vaccines [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5633.