Tumor cell neoantigen presentation

Tumor cell neoantigen presentation is the process by which somatic alterations in cancer (e.g., SNVs, indels, fusions, splice variants, endogenous retroelements, and aberrant post-translational modifications) generate tumor-specific peptides that are processed by the antigen presentation machinery and displayed on MHC molecules for T-cell surveillance. Clinically relevant neoantigens must be both immunogenic and naturally presented—on professional antigen-presenting cells for priming and on tumor cells endogenously for recognition—making accurate identification and validation essential. The pathway’s integrity is a major determinant of anti-tumor immunity and the effectiveness of therapies such as checkpoint blockade, vaccines, and adoptive T-cell transfer, while tumors commonly escape by impairing antigen processing/presentation or downregulating MHC.

Other names

neoantigen processing and presentationantigen processing and presentation of tumor neoantigenstumor neoantigen presentation

Checkpoint blockade: unleashes T cells recognizing tumor-presented neoantigens to mediate tumor killing; efficacy often associates with neoantigen burden/clonality Epigenetic therapy: increases expression of antigen presentation genes/MHC and tumor antigens, restoring visibility to T cells Neoantigen vaccines: elicit or boost T-cell responses to tumor-presented neoantigens identified per patient Adoptive T-cell therapy: infuses T cells specific for neoantigens presented by tumor MHC to recognize and kill cancer cells Drug-induced neoantigen formation: covalent modification creates unique peptides presented by MHC, enabling T-cell targeting