Exploiting the Immunological Effects of Standard Treatments in Prostate Cancer; Annual rept. 1 Mar 2007-28 Feb 2008

摘要

We previously demonstrated that radiation therapy (RT) and hormone therapy (HT) induce tumor-specific autoantibody responses in human prostate cancer and this grant is investigating the clinical significance of these findings. In Aim 1 the Shionogi mouse tumor model is being used to study the effect of HT and RT induced immune responses on tumor recurrence. In the past year we have shown that HT induces autoantibody and T cell responses against the tumor antigen Poly A Binding Protein (PABP) in this model. Contrary to our hypothesis these immune responses are associated with earlier tumor recurrence which underscores the importance of performing analogous studies in human prostate cancer patients (Aims 2 and 3). To this end we have established a platform for testing human T cell responses against serologically-defined tumor antigens and we have collected large blood samples from prostate cancer patients showing treatment-induced autoantibody responses (Aim 2). We have also started to assemble cohorts of prostate cancer patients with recurrent versus non-recurrent disease at 5 years post-treatment (Aim 3). In summary this study is progressing on schedule and is revealing unexpected results that we believe may be highly relevant to prognosis and treatment of prostate cancer.