Prophylactic vaccination is typically utilized for the prevention of
communicable diseases such as
measles and
influenza but, with the exception of
vaccines to prevent
cervical cancer, is not widely used as a means of preventing or reducing the incidence of
cancer. Here, we utilize a
peptide-based immunotherapeutic approach targeting ERBB3, a pseudo-
kinase member of the EGFR/ERBB family of
receptor tyrosine kinases, as a means of preventing occurrence of colon
polyps. Administration of the
peptide resulted in a significant decrease in the development of
intestinal polyps in C57BL/6J-ApcMin mice, a model of
familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). In addition, even though they were not vaccinated, ApcMin offspring born to vaccinated females developed significantly fewer
polyps than offspring born to control females. Lastly, to validate ERBB as a valid target for vaccination, we found no overt toxicity, increases in apoptosis, or morphological changes in tissues where Erbb3 was ablated in adult mice. These results indicate that prophylactic vaccination targeting ERBB3 could prevent the development of colon
polyps in an at-risk patient population.