Survivin Monoclonal Antibodies Detect Survivin Cell Surface Expression and Inhibit Tumor Growth In Vivo

Purpose: Survivin is an inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) that is highly expressed in many cancers and represents an attractive molecule for targeted cancer therapy. Although primarily regarded as an intracellular protein with diverse actions, survivin has also been identified in association with circulating tumor exosomes. Experimental Design: We have reported that active, specific vaccination with a long peptide survivin immunogen leads to the development of survivin-specific CD8-mediated tumor cell lysis and prolongation of survival in tumor-bearing mice. In addition to cellular antitumor responses, circulating anti-survivin antibodies are detected in the serum of mice and human glioblastoma patients following vaccination with the survivin immunogen. Results: Here we demonstrate that survivin is present on the outer cell membrane of a wide variety of cancer cell types, including both murine and human glioma cells. In addition, antibodies to survivin that are derived from the immunogen display antitumor activity against murine GL261 gliomas in both flank and intracranial tumor models and against B16 melanoma as well. Conclusions: In addition to immunogen-induced, CD8-mediated tumor cell lysis, antibodies to the survivin immunogen have antitumor activity in vivo. Cell-surface survivin could provide a specific target for antibody-mediated tumor immunotherapeutic approaches. Clin Cancer Res; 24(11); 2642–52. ©2018 AACR.