Cancer is a generic term that designates a wide group of diseases that can affect any part of the body; A defining characteristic of cancer is the rapid multiplication of abnormal cells that spread beyond their normal limits and can invade adjacent parts of the body or spread to other organs, a process called metastasis, which is the leading cause of cancer death (Sudhakar A, 2009). Although incidence rates for all cancers combined are almost twice in more developed countries respecting to less developed ones, death rates are only 8–15% higher in developed countries due to risk factors and screening practices, and availability of treatment (Ferlay J, 2013). In Mexico, cancer is the third leading cause of death, 14/100 Mexicans die from this disease and the life expectancy of those who suffer from it is around 63 years (SSA, 2017).
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant transformation and proliferation of lymphoid progenitor cells in the bone marrow, blood, and extramedullary sites. 80% occurs in children and represents a devastating disease when it occurs in adults. The incidence of ALL follows a bimodal distribution, with the first peak in childhood and the second peak around 50 years old (Paul S, 2016). Symptoms of ALL include enlarged lymph nodes, bruising, fever, bone pain, frequent infections, and bleeding gums. Treatment may include chemotherapy or local-release drugs that kill cancer cells. Although dose escalation strategies have led to a significant improvement in outcomes for pediatric patients, the prognosis for the elderly still is very poor (Jabbour E, 2015).
Neuroblastoma is an embryonic tumor of the autonomic nervous system; it is a type of cancer that is usually found in the adrenal glands (Maris JM, 2010). It can develop in the stomach, chest, neck, pelvis, and bones. It generally affects children under five years of age, it is the most common cancer diagnosed during the first year of life. Some of the symptoms are fatigue, loss of appetite, and fever. The clinical presentation is highly variable, from a mass that does not cause symptoms to a primary tumor that causes critical illness because of local invasion, widely disseminated disease, or both (Ishola TA, 2007).
It is historically known that parasites, both protozoa and helminths, can form long-term infections in humans whose chronic inflammation causes cancer. Some examples are Schistosoma mansoni, which causes malignant tumors (Berry A, 2017), Plasmodium falciparum, which induces Burkitt's lymphoma (Mawson AR, 2017), and Trichomonas vaginalis, which has been associated with an increase in prostate cancer (Sutcliffe S, 2009).
The design of effective vaccines for the treatment of cancer is one of the main challenges in cancer research. Several non-pathogenic parasites such as Leishmania tarentolae, Toxoplasma gondii, and T.cruzi have been used as candidates for designing cancer vaccines (Junqueira C, 2012). There is growing experimental and clinical evidence that the immune system is actively involved in the pathogenesis and control of tumor progression. An effective antitumor response depends on the correct interaction of various components of the immune system, such as antigen-presenting cells and different subpopulations of T cells. However, malignant tumors develop numerous mechanisms to evade their recognition and elimination. The beneficial effects reported for some parasitic diseases in tumorigenesis range from the induction of apoptosis, the activation of the immune response, the avoidance of metastasis and angiogenesis, the inhibition of proliferative signals, to the regulation of inflammatory responses that promote the Cancer (Callejas BE, 2018).
It has been reported for the parasitic malaria infection that inhibits cell proliferation in lung cancer (Chen L, 2011) or by intratumoral injection of attenuated Toxoplasma gondii for cases of melanoma (Bard JR, 2013). It was also shown that when administered to mice, three peptides from E. granulosus, these confer splenocytes with the ability to kill tumor cells. Furthermore, this cytotoxic activity was correlated with a higher number of activated NKs, which suggests that the immune response may be efficient to eliminate tumor cells in the presence of this infection (Noya V, 2013).
Echinococcus granulosus is a cestode parasite that causes cystic echinococcosis disease. In a retrospective study a significantly lower prevalence of cancer was seen in patients with hydatid disease (Akgül H, 2003). Antigenic similarities were found between E. granulosus and some types of tumors (Van Knapen, 1980). As well as that immunization with human hydatid cystic fluid (HCF) induces antibodies against CT26 colon carcinoma cells and protects against tumor growth in mice (Berriel E, 2013).
It has also been proven that T.cruzi, the protozoan parasite that causes Chagas disease, has mediated anticancer effects, by products derived from the parasite that inhibit the growth of tumor cells, involving both the cellular and humoral components of the immune response. Therefore, it is proposed to develop polyclonal antibodies against T.cruzi in rabbits, and to determine the reactivity with NB tumor protein extracts and with protein extract of ALL cells in culture, to determine the presence of the molecules involved in this process.
The aim of this study was determine the presence of antigenic proteins of T.cruzi, shared with protein extract of cells in culture of ALL and extract protein of NB