Vaccine-induced antibody responses in patients with carcinoma

Cancer vaccines based on defined antigens are capable of inducing antibodies that recognize and kill tumor cells. Antibodies are ideally suited to address minimal residual disease, and vaccination in an adjuvant setting may favorably influence the outcome of a disease. The present article gives a short summary of antibody production by B cells, and the mechanism of action of antibodies, as well as a description of the current methods for measuring antibody responses and for assessing their antitumor efficacy in the context of clinical trials. It concludes with an overview of antibody responses induced by vaccines based on structurally defined tumor-associated antigens tested in patients with carcinomas. Correlation between antibody responses, T-cell responses and clinical outcome has been noted in a few studies, signaling the importance of vaccine design and adjuvants to exploit the interactions of the innate and adaptive immune system. However, humoral responses, which may provide a surrogate marker for T-helper responses and simplify monitoring of large Phase III trials, are still not or incompletely explored in many vaccination trials.