HPV 16 E7 antibody levels in cervical cancer patients: before and after treatment

Antibody response to HPV16 E7 oncoprotein may represent a marker of cervical cancer. A HPV16 GST-E7 fusion protein was used in a Western Blot assay to analyse the HPV16 E7 antibody response in 30 patients before and after treatment for cervical carcinoma (stage IIB or IIIB). Patients were treated with three courses of cisplatin/bleomycin therapy followed by surgery, or with surgery alone. Thirteen out of 30 patients had serum antibodies to HPV16 E7 antigen. Three months after chemotherapy little or no change in antibody titre was detected. In contrast, after surgery, a significant decrease in antibody titre was observed in 9/10 patients. In two cases the titre declined to zero 3 and 9 months after treatment, respectively. These results confirm the usefulness of studying anti-HPV16 E7 antibody profile in cervical cancer patients and suggest that the serum response correlates with tumour burden.