Therapeutic uterine-cervix cancer vaccines in humans

Infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types is involved in ea rly stages of uterine-cervix cancer development. The virally encoded E6 and E7 oncoproteins behave as tumor-specific antigens and represent targets fo r a vaccine designed to control HPV-induced tumors, Using either proteins o r peptides based on E6 and E7 oncoproteins of HPV16 and 18, phase I clinica l trials of therapeutic vaccines against HPV-associated cervical cancers ha ve recently been reported. Although the effectiveness of these vaccines can not be evaluated in such small studies, they constitute an important step t oward the development of therapeutic uterine-cervix cancer vaccines. A poly tope DNA vaccination approach combined with immunomodulatory cytokines may offer an excellent strategy to reduce the risk of relapse and metastasis fo llowing conventional therapies.