Patent ID: 7189513

Claim:
A method for inducing an immune response against human papilloma virus 16 (HPV 16) comprising administering to a subject a composition, which is selected from a group consisting of: (i) a peptide of 20 amino acids or less comprising a cross-reactive peptide from the E6 protein of a related HPV strain, HPV 18, that has higher affinity for the HLA-A2.1 molecule than the corresponding epitope from HPV 16 itself, said peptide consisting of the sequence X 1 KLPDLCTEL(SEQ ID NO:1)X 2 , wherein X 1 and X 2 are peptides of 0–11 amino acids in length comprising contiguous HPV 18 E6 amino acid sequences; (ii) an antigen presenting cell pulsed with said peptide; and (iii) a cell sensitized in vitro to said peptide.