Correlation between auto-antibodies to survivin and MUC1 variable number tandem repeats in colorectal cancer.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and correlation between auto-antibodies to survivin and MUC1 variable number tandem repeats (VNTR) in colorectal cancer (CRC), which can provide valuable information for the design of immunotherapeutic vaccines for this disease.

Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to examine the level of auto-antibodies against survivin and MUC1 VNTR in the serum of 135 CRC patients and 95 healthy volunteers.

Results: Using mean absorbance+2 standard deviations (SD) of the healthy samples as a cut-off value, the positive rates of survivin and MUC1 VNTR auto- antibodies in CRC were 31.1% and 18.5%, respectively. Altogether, the survivin and MUC1 VNTR positive samples accounted for 36.3% of the CRC patients, and 7.4% were positive for both.

Conclusion: A significant positive correlation was found between levels of specific antibodies against survivin and MUC1 VNTR in the serum of CRC patients (r=0.3652, P<0.0001), suggesting that vaccines against both targets would elicit immune responses more effectively.