Journal of Vaccines & Vaccination

Cancer testis antigens: Novel targets for ovarian cancer

2^nd International Conference on Vaccines and Vaccination

August 20-22, 2012 Hilton Chicago/Northbrook, USA

Maurizio Chiriva Internati

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Vaccines Vaccin

Abstract:

O varian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women and the leading cause from gynecological malignancies. Despite the recently improved outcomes of new chemotherapeutical agents in the therapy of ovarian cancer and the increased 5-year survival rate, the mortality of this malignancy disease remains unchanged. Ovarian cancer therapy is often correlated to the stage of the tumor, but the first step is usually surgical treatment. Afterward, various courses of chemotherapy and radiation are suggested. Obviously, the higher the developmental stage of the tumor, the less the probability is in eradicating it surgically, especially in relation to metastasis. It is clear that an early diagnosis of ovarian cancer is important for the survival of these patients. In order to identify ovarian cancer patients in the early stages, a number of studies are focusing on a particular class of antigens called cancer testis antigens. These antigens display high expression in tumors of different histology, but are normally restricted to the testis and have low or no expression in normal tissues. In the past few years, these antigens were demonstrated to be very promising for the early diagnosis and development of vaccines for ovarian cancer. This study aims to underline the most reliable cancer testis antigens under investigation at this moment. Keywords: Ovarian Cancer; Cancer testis Antigens; Cancer Vaccine

Biography :

Maurizio Chiriva Internati completed his degree in biological sciences at the University of Milan, Italy and doctorates of immunology at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom and morphological sciences at the University of Milan, Italy. He completed his postdoctoral research on tumor immunology, virology and cancer vaccine studies from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Currently, he is the director of Basic and Translational Research at the division on Hematology & Oncology at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, and is a senior editor for the journal, International Reviews of Immunology. He has published more than 100 papers in peer reviewed journals and serves as on the editorial board of several reputed cancer journals