Telomerase is an attractive target antigen for cancer immunotherapies because it is expressed in >85% of human tumors but is rarely found in normal tissues. A HLA-A*0201-restricted T-cell epitope was previously identified within telomerase reverse transcriptase hTERT:540-548. This peptide was reported to induce CTL that recognized tumor cells and transfectants that endogenously expressed telomerase. Therefore, we initiated a clinical protocol to evaluate the therapeutic and immunological efficacy of this peptide.
Immunization of patients with the hTERT:540-548 peptide induces peptide-reactive T lymphocytes that do not recognize tumors endogenously expressing telomerase.
National Cancer Institute, Surgery Branch and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Hematology Branch, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1502, USA. Maria_Parkhurst@nih.gov
