Immunogenicity in mice and rhesus monkeys vaccinated with recombinant vaccinia virus expressing bivalent E7E6 fusion proteins from human papillomavirus types 16 and 18

Persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is a predominant cause of cervical cancer, and HPV16 and HPV18 occur in 50% and 20% of cervical cancer cases, respectively. The viral oncogenes E6 and E7 are constitutively expressed by HPV-associated tumour cells and can therefore be used as target antigens for immunotherapy. In this study, we constructed a recombinant vaccinia virus co-expressing the HPV16/18 E7E6 fusion proteins (rVVJ16/18E7E6) for use as a therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of HPV16+ and HPV18+ cancers.