Sex and Age-Based Differences in Immune Responses to a Peptide Vaccine for Melanoma in Two Clinical Trials.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Little is known about the impact of patient age and biological sex on immune responses to melanoma vaccines, especially CD4⁺ T cell immune responses to peptides presented by Class II MHC molecules.

Methods

We assessed the impact of age and sex on CD4+ T cell and antibody responses to a mixture of six melanoma helper peptides (6MHP) and on CD8+ T cell responses when vaccinating with 12 class I MHC-restricted melanoma peptides (12MP) plus either 6MHP or a tetanus helper T cell peptide (Tet). We hypothesized that immune responses would be greater in men and in younger patients.

Results

We found differences in immune response by sex, but they favored female patients and were only evident for helper T cell responses to Tet with a weak trend to higher

SUBMITTER: Vilasi SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11860781 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature