Towards an off-the-shelf vaccine therapy targeting shared B-cell tumor idiotypes.

The ideal tumor antigen is one expressed selectively by the tumor, present in all cancer patients, essential for tumor survival and nonetheless able to induce both humoral and cellular immune response. The personalized idiotype (Id) of the surface immunoglobulin is a tumor specific antigen in that it is expressed on clonal B-cell tumors, mediates B-cell survival, and induces tumor specific immunity in both human and animal models. With the availability of monoclonal antibodies against B cells, such as rituximab, the cellular immune response mediated by specific T cells has gained more importance as a combination therapy for the complete elimination of residual tumor cells in lymphoma and myeloma.