Spontaneous high-titered IgG antibody responses against BCL-2 in patients with aggressive lymphomas.

PURPOSE: Molecules which are exclusively or preferentially expressed by malignant cells are potential targets for immunotherapeutic approaches to the treatment of cancer.

METHODS

We therefore tested serum samples of 95 patients with aggressive B-cell lymphomas for antibodies against lymphoma-associated molecules using SEREX for antibodies against BCL-2, BCL-XL, MCL-1, survivin, BCL-6, CD20, LM02, PDE4B, cyclin-D2, actinin-alpha1, SCYA3, PKCbeta2, E2IG3, and HGAL.

RESULTS

One patient had low-titered (1:100) antibodies against PKCbeta2. Antibodies against BCL-2 were detected in the sera of five patients (5.3%), with responses found more frequently in follicular lymphoma grade 3 (3/26 or 11.5%) than in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (2/67 or 3%). Anti-BCL-2 antibodies were of the IgG class and titers ranged from 1:1,000 to 1:100,000 with highest titers before treatment and decreasing slowly during remission.

CONCLUSION

The spontaneous immunogenicity of BCL-2 makes this molecule a prime candidate for vaccine approaches in BCL-2 positive B-cell lymphomas.