Wildtype p53-specific antibody and T-cell responses in cancer patients

Mutation in the p53 gene based on single amino acid substitutions is a frequent event in human cancer. Accumulated mutant p53 protein is released to antigen presenting cells of the immune system and anti-p53 immune responses even against wt p53 is induced and observed in a number of human cancer patients. Detection of antibodies against wt p53 protein has been used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker and discovery of new T-cell epitopes has enabled design of cancer vaccination protocols with promising results. Here, we identified wt p53-specific antibodies in various cancer patients and identified a broad range of responses against wt p53 protein and 15-mer peptides using a novel print array technology. Likewise, using bioinformatic tools in silico, we identified CD8 T-cell specificity or reactivity against HLA-A*02:01 binding peptides wt p53(65-73), wt p53(187-197), and wt p53(264-272) in breast cancer patients and against HLA-A*01:01 binding peptide wt p53(226-234) and HLA-B*07:02 binding peptide wt p53(74-82) in renal cell cancer and breast cancer patients, respectively. Finally, we analyzed antibody and T-cell responses against wt p53 15-mer peptides in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who were alive with no evidence of disease after a follow-up period of minimum 5 years after treatment with IL-2 ± IFN-α ± histamine containing immunotherapy to identify novel epitopes for use in immunotherapy and for potential response biomarkers. However, none of the wt p53 reactivity observed justified use of 15-mer or was related to survival in this rare patient population.