CONSTRUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A RECOMBINANT VACCINIA WAS EXPRESSING HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS PROTEINS FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CERVICAL-CANCER

The presence and consistent expression of the genes encoding the human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 and E7 proteins in the great majority of cerv ical tumours presents the opportunity for an immunotherapeutic approac h for control of the disease. This report describes the construction a nd characterisation of a recombinant vaccinia virus designed to expres s modified forms of the E6 and E7 proteins from HPV16 and HPV18, the v iruses most commonly associated with cervical cancer. The recombinant virus (designated TA-HPV) was based on the Wyeth vaccine strain of vac cinia, and was shown to express the desired gene products, Studies in mice indicated that the recombinant virus was less neurovirulent than the parental virus and was capable of inducing an HPV-specific CTL res ponse. This pre-clinical evaluation has provided a basis for the initi ation of human trials in cervical cancer patients. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.