Chimeric HBcAg virus-like particles presenting a HPV 16 E7 epitope significantly suppressed tumor progression through preventive or therapeutic immunization in a TC-1-grafted mouse model

Background Therapeutic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are currently being developed. However, no therapeutic efficacy has been achieved in clinical trials for the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or cancer. One of the important issues in increasing vaccine efficacy is determining the best way to enhance tumor antigen-specific cellular immune responses. This study aimed to explore the virus-like particles (VLPs) of hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) as potential therapeutic vaccine carriers and to assess its immunological characteristics.