Cancer neoantigen

A cancer neoantigen is a novel peptide or protein fragment generated by tumor cells as a result of somatic mutations, such as single nucleotide changes, insertions, deletions, gene fusions, or aberrant splicing[1][2][3][4][5][6]. These neoantigens are not present in normal tissues and are recognized as foreign by the immune system, being presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules on the surface of tumor cells[2][3][4][6]. This feature makes them highly immunogenic and ideal for cancer immunotherapies, including personalized cancer vaccines, adoptive T-cell therapies, and immune checkpoint blockade. Neoantigens can be unique to an individual tumor (personalized) or commonly shared due to recurrent driver mutations (shared), and their identification is enabled by advanced genomic and bioinformatics technologies[2][4]. Immune targeting of neoantigens aims to induce robust, tumor-specific cytotoxic T-cell responses while minimizing the risk of damage to normal tissues[1][2][3][4][5]. However, challenges include immune evasion due to antigen loss, tumor heterogeneity, and practical difficulties in rapidly and accurately identifying neoantigen targets for each patient[2][3][5].

Other names

neoantigentumor neoantigen

Generation of tumor-specific immune response via antigen presentation (MHC) and T-cell activation Therapeutic vaccines prime T-cells to recognize and kill cancer cells bearing neoantigens[1][3][4] Adoptive T-cell therapies (TCR-T, TILs) utilize or engineer T-cells targeting neoantigen epitopes[1][2][4][5] Bispecific antibodies facilitate T-cell redirection toward neoantigen-expressing cells[5]