Abstract
Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the cause of the majority of cervical cancers and head and neck cancers worldwide. Although prophylactic vaccines and cervical cancer screening programs have shown efficacy in preventing HPV-associated cervical cancer, cervical cancer is still a major cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in third world countries. Furthermore, head and neck cancer cases caused by HPV infection and associated mortality are increasing. The need for better therapy is clear, and therapeutic vaccination generating cytotoxic T cells against HPV proteins is a promising strategy. This review covers the current scene of HPV therapeutic vaccines in clinical development and discusses relevant considerations for the design of future HPV therapeutic vaccines and clinical trials, such as HPV protein expression patterns, immunogenicity, and exhaustion in relation to the different stages and types of HPV-associated lesions and cancers. Ultimately, while the majority of the HPV therapeutic vaccines currently in clinical testing target the two HPV oncoproteins E6 and E7, we suggest that there is a need to include more HPV antigens in future HPV therapeutic vaccines to increase efficacy and find that especially E1 and E2 could be promising novel targets.
Highlights
Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection is the known cause of the majority of cervical cancer cases, and is responsible for a growing number of head and neck cancers [1,2], as well as penile, anal and vulvar cancers
The current strategies to combat HPV infection are founded on prophylactic vaccination and routine screening for cervical HPV infection, neoplasia, and cancer
When fully implemented the treatment generated an impressive level of circulating HPV16 E6/E7 specific CD8 T cells of up to 40% of circulating CD8 T cells in one case and in most cases around 1000 spots/million in ELISPOT assays, in the early analysis there was a high number of patients not available for follow-up analysis
Summary
Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection is the known cause of the majority of cervical cancer cases, and is responsible for a growing number of head and neck cancers (head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, HNSCC, mostly oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, OPSCC) [1,2], as well as penile, anal and vulvar cancers. One of the promising strategies is therapeutic vaccination, capable of inducing immune responses toward relevant HPV proteins with the aim of removing HPV infection by killing HPV+ cells in a lesion or tumor. It was recently shown that decreased local immune responses against HPV was associated with resistance to chemoradiotherapy and higher mortality in cervical cancer [28]. This highlights the rationale of enhancing the. This review aims to provide an assessment of HPV−associated cancer immunobiology, HPV expression patterns in these cancers and the correlations of these factors with clinical outcomes We will relate this to the implications of the choice of antigenic targets for HPV therapeutic vaccines, as well as to highlight relevant considerations and recent advances in novel antigens for HPV therapeutic vaccine design against both HPV infection and HPVassociated cancer. The readers are kindly referred to other publications and reviews for an overview of the various technologies applied in therapeutic HPV treatment research [29,30]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
