Patient-specific tumor neoantigen-expressing cells (Neoantigen-expressing cells)

Patient-specific tumor neoantigen-expressing cells are malignant cells that display unique, non-self peptides on their surface as a result of somatic mutations within the tumor genome. These neoantigens are highly specific to the individual patient's tumor and are not expressed by healthy tissues, making them ideal targets for precision immunotherapy because they bypass central thymic tolerance (Sahin & Türeci, Science, 2018). The identification of these targets typically involves whole-exome sequencing of tumor and normal DNA followed by bioinformatic algorithms to predict which mutations will result in immunogenic peptides presented by the patient's specific HLA alleles (Blass & Ott, Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, 2021). Therapeutic interventions targeting these cells include personalized mRNA or peptide vaccines and adoptive cell therapies, such as tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) or TCR-engineered T cells. By focusing the immune system on these unique markers, these therapies aim to achieve high anti-tumor efficacy with minimal off-target toxicity to normal cells. This approach is currently a cornerstone of next-generation oncology, particularly in "hot" tumors with high mutational burdens like melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer (Ott et al., NEJM, 2017).

Other names

Tumor-specific antigen-presenting cellsNeoepitope-presenting tumor cellsSomatic mutation-derived antigen-expressing cellsTSA-expressing cells

Induction of a de novo or expanded T-cell response (specifically CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes and CD4+ helper T cells) that recognizes unique, non-self peptides presented by Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules on the surface of tumor cells, leading to targeted cell lysis (Schumacher & Schreiber, Science, 2015).