Studies of the nature of herpesvirus-induced tumour-associated antigens induced by herpes simplex virus type 1 and further analysis of their relationship with squamous-cell carcinomas of the head and neck region.

The differences seen in levels of antibody response to HSV-TAA between non-laryngeal and laryngeal cancers in cured and untreated patient populations were due to the use of filtered sera. In previous and present studies using unfiltered sera, these differences were not noted. Of unfiltered sera from patients with squamous-cell carcinomas of the head and neck, 89% (49 out of 55) were positive for CF reactivity to HSV-TAA, and 44% of these unfiltered sera had titres of 1:4 or greater to 44 microng of antigen. The upper band of the antigen appears to be present in early provirus formation and is highly unstable whereas the lower band does not seem to be part of the assembly process.