ABSTRACT
Prostate cancer has historically been considered to be a poor target for immune recognition compared with such malignancies as melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. The majority of antigens identified in the prostate, including prostate-specific antigen (PSA), prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), represent ‘‘self proteins.’’ As a result, these proteins are thought not to be inherently immunogenic. Moreover, soluble antigens that circulate in the serum, such as PSA and PAP, can render T-cells that recognize these antigen nonfunctional or anergic (1). Nevertheless, multiple studies, which will be reviewed in this chapter, have demonstrated that immune responses can be induced to antigens expressed by prostate tissue or cancer. Moreover, a recent study has demonstrated that prostate cancer can induce spontaneous autoantibodies in patients, not unlikemelanoma, and thereforemay be inherently immunogenic (2).
