Drugs of Today 2002, 38 (11): 759-768 Copyright© 2002 PROUS SCIENCE CCC: 0025-7656/2002 THE USE OF CARBOHYDRATE ANTIGENS FOR THE PREPARATION OF VACCINES FOR THERAPY IN BREAST CANCER María Virginia Croce 1 and Amada Segai-Eiras2 Centro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y Aplicadas, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, UNLP, La Plata, Argentina; 1 Member of CICPBA (Comisión de Investigaciones de la Provincia de Buenos Aires); 2 Member of Research Career of the CONICET (Consejo Naci onal Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas) CONTENTS Summary ---------- - ---- - --------- - -- - -- - --------- - -------------------- · · · ···· · ··· ·· ··· ·· · · ··· ··· ·· ······· 759 lntroduction ...... ................. . ... ...... . ..... ... . . .... ............................ .................. 760 Carbohydrate antigens . . .................... ..... . . .... . .... . .... ........ ........... . ... .......... 760 Adjuvants and carriers... .... . .......... ..... ...... ..... ............... ....... ..................... 762 Protocols in breas!cancer patients . ......... ..................... ... ...... . ..... ........... 762 Conclusion.... . .................. ........... ..... ..... ........... ...... ...... .... . .. ..... .. .. ... ......... 764 References .......................... . ..... ..... ............................................... .......... 764 Summary lmmunotherapy of human breas! cancer is a rapidly growing experimental area based on pep- tidic as well as carbohydrate tumor-associated antigens. Cell surface carbohydrates are charac- teristic of different stages of normal development and differentiation; distinct carbohydrates are ex- pressed in tissue- and cell-specific manners during those processes. Under pathological conditions such as neoplasia, changes in carbohydrate struc- Correspondence: Dr. María Virginia Croce, Centro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y Aplicadas, Facul tad de Ciencias Médicas, UNLP, Calle 60 y 120, 1900 La Plata, Argentina; Tel: 54 221 4870414, Fax: 54 221 4871481; E-mail: mvcroce@netverk.com.ar tures can almos! always be present. In the suc- cessful development of carbohydrate anticancer vaccines, adjuvant and carrier molecules that pro- mote the presentation of an antigen to the immune effector cells are prominent factors. At present, keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) is the most widely used carrier protein in cancer immunothera- py, and QS-21 is the adjuvant most widely em- ployed. In breas!cancer, the immunogenicity of TF, Tn, STn and globo H antigens has been explored in different clinical trials. Approaches including vaccines against STn and globo H are presently being assayed with expectancy. From the experi- ence obtained, it is possible to conclude that: 1) the employment of glycolipopeptide with clustered epitopes seems to be more effective than that of