Patient-specific glioblastoma-associated antigens (GBM-AAs)

Patient-specific glioblastoma-associated antigens are a diverse set of proteins, including neoantigens and tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), that are uniquely expressed by an individual's glioblastoma (GBM) tumor cells (Liau et al., JAMA Oncol, 2023). These antigens serve as the molecular targets for personalized immunotherapy, specifically dendritic cell (DC) vaccines, where autologous DCs are loaded with these antigens to stimulate a systemic immune response. By presenting the full spectrum of a patient's tumor antigens, this approach aims to overcome the extreme intratumoral heterogeneity and the immunosuppressive microenvironment that typically render GBM resistant to standard therapies (Wen et al., Neuro-Oncology, 2020). The primary mechanism involves the activation of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes that can recognize and eliminate tumor cells expressing these specific markers. In clinical practice, drugs like DCVax-L utilize a whole-tumor lysate to capture these patient-specific antigens, ensuring a polyclonal T-cell response (National Cancer Institute). This strategy has demonstrated the ability to significantly extend overall survival in both newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma patients compared to standard-of-care treatments.

Other names

Tumor-associated antigensNeoantigensAutologous tumor lysate antigensGBM antigensPatient-specific tumor antigens

Dendritic cells are loaded with patient-specific tumor antigens to induce a polyclonal T-cell mediated immune response against the tumor.