Tumor cell antigen presentation

Tumor cell antigen presentation is a biological process where tumor cells (and specialized antigen-presenting cells) display intracellular or extracellular peptide fragments on their surface using MHC molecules, making them recognizable to T cells of the immune system. This mechanism is crucial for anti-tumor immune responses and underpins the effectiveness of immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint blockade and CAR-T cell therapy. Tumor cells can evade immune recognition by downregulating antigen presentation via mutations, epigenetic changes, or creating an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Defects or suppression of antigen presentation are major contributors to resistance against immunotherapies. Measuring tumor antigen presentation (e.g., via TIGS or APM expression) serves as a biomarker for predicting immunotherapy responses. However, antigen presentation is a process, not a druggable protein, gene, or receptor, and should not be listed as a canonical target for drug development.\n\nIf you seek structured data on canonical drug targets (e.g., "Programmed cell death protein 1", "Major histocompatibility complex class I"), identify the specific molecule(s) or component(s) within this pathway. "Tumor cell antigen presentation" is best described as a biological function or process, not a targetable molecule.

Other names

Antigen presentation in tumor cellsCancer antigen presentationTumor antigen processing and presentation

Immune checkpoint inhibitors: Block immune-suppressive signals from tumor cells to enhance T cell recognition.\nEpigenetic modulators: Increase tumor antigen presentation by reversing suppressed gene expression.\nCAR-T cells: Engineered T cells recognize and attack antigenic targets presented by tumor cells.