Antibody responses to survivin and their clinical significance in patients with head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND Survivin is highly expressed in cancer cells but shows little or no expression in normal tissues. Little is known about antibody responses to survivin in patients with head and neck cancer. METHODS Anti-survivin antibody responses in patients with head and neck cancer were investigated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Anti-p53 antibody and squamous cell carcinoma antigen were also examined. RESULTS Sera from 69 of 97 patients (71.1%) were positive for anti-survivin, with a cutoff value (absorbance; >0.673) with healthy control subjects. High levels of anti-survivin were detected in patients with advanced stage. Interestingly, levels of anti-survivin fell after curative treatment. In addition, 24 of 26 (92.3%) tested patients were positive for at least 1 of 3 markers. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that survivin may act as a major cancer antigen in head and neck cancer. Anti-survivin antibody responses may be a valuable marker in patients with head and neck cancer.