Breast cancer vaccine
Compositions and methods for immunization against human breast cancer are disclosed. A breast cancer vaccine comprises an immunogenic polypeptide comprising human α-lactalbumin.
1. A method of immunizing a non-lactating female human patient against a human α-lactalbumin, the method comprising the steps of
inducing an immune response against α-lactalbumin in the patient by administering to the patient an immunogenic composition, the immunogenic composition comprising
an adjuvant; and
a polypeptide comprising a human α-lactalbumin sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1; and
administering to the patient one or more booster injections of a booster composition comprising a polypeptide comprising a human α-lactalbumin sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the female human patient is a female human patient in which breast cancer cells had been detected.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein T cells are activated after administration of the polypeptide to the patient.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the T cells are CD4+.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the T cells are CD8+.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a proinflammatory immune response is induced by subsequent encounter of immune cells with α-lactalbumin.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the proinflammatory immune response comprises production of IFNγ by T cells.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the proinflammatory immune response is breast tissue specific.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient has a breast tumor that overexpresses α-lactalbumin.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adjuvant is GPI-0100.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said polypeptide is a recombinant polypeptide.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the recombinant polypeptide is produced in Escherichia coli.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the female human patient is a female human patient in which breast cancer cells had been detected.