Detection of naturally occurring antibodies directed against human chorionic gonadotropin in patients with gynecological tumours

Annotation Gynecological tumors are tumors of women's reproductive system that constitute a significant problem in the XXI century. Every year millions of women are affected with various gynecological cancer and about 30-40% of them die becouse of late diagnosis and / or ineffective treatment. The high rates of mortality show the cancers of uterus and ovary. The aim of this study was to determine the titers of anti hCGαβ and anti hCG β antibodies in the sera of patients with benign (ovarian cysts and fybromioma) and malignant tumors (cervical cancer, uterine cancer and ovarian cancer) and determine the level of hCGαβ hormone in the same patients. hCG is an αβ heterodimeric pregnancy-associated hormone essential for the maintenance of the corpus luteum in early gestation. The hormone, particularly as free β subunit, is also secreted by a variety of malignant tumors, Including ovarian and uterine tumors. hCG may facilitate cancer progression in different ways and high levels of this hormone is associated with poor survival. Therefor, study of naturly -occouring anti-hCG antibodis might have a significant role in the development of anti-tumor therapy, as well as, reviling the protective function of these antibodies may be very important for a therapevtic vaccine development. We have studed sera from patients with malignant and benign tumors of the uterus, cervix and ovaries determining the levels of hCG (whole hormone0, as well as the titers of anti-hCG/anti-hCGβ antibodes using enzyme linked immune sorbent assey (ELISA). As it was expected the levels of hCG is high in patients with malignant tumours, but sera from patients with benign tumours showed the same level of hCG as it was in healthy donors. Our study of naturaly-occuaring anti-hCG and anti-hCGβ antibodies reviled that the titers of these antibodies is high in benign tumour patients, while the sera from patients with malignant tumours contein very low titers of the same antibodies. Based on our results, indicating the difference in the titers of anti-hCG/hCGβ antibodies between the patients with benign and malignant tumours, we can suppose that anti-hCG/hCGβ antibodies have a protective role from malignant transformation of bingn tumours via neitralisation of hCG or its β subunit. In conclusion, the further studies of anti-hCG naturaly-occuaring antibodies is nessesery. An improved understanding of these processes may lead to the development of tumour prevention and treatment strategies that selectively target hCG or its subunits. Serum titers of anti-hCG autoantibodies might find utility as a prognostic marker for possible malignant transformation of benign tumours.

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