Tumor-specific cell surface antigen (TSA)

Tumor-specific cell surface antigens are a heterogeneous category of antigens that arise due to genetic mutations, aberrant gene expression, or as a result of viral oncogenesis, and are expressed uniquely on the surface of tumor cells but absent from normal, healthy tissues. These antigens, including mutant proteins (neoantigens), cancer/testis antigens, and some virus-encoded proteins, enable the immune system—particularly T cells—to distinguish and selectively target cancer cells, forming the basis for personalized immunotherapies such as cancer vaccines, adoptive T cell transfer, and engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies. However, because "tumor-specific cell surface antigens" is a collective rather than a single molecular entity, therapeutic targeting and biomarker development must be tailored to the specific antigen identified in each tumor, and not all candidate TSAs are truly exclusive to cancer.

Other names

Tumor-specific antigenTSATumor neoantigenNeoantigenCancer/testis antigenMutant protein antigenOncoviral antigenMalignant cell surface antigen

Immune-mediated cytotoxicity via T cell recognition (through MHC presentation of mutated or aberrant peptides); Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (for B cell/antibody recognizing conformational surface TSAs); Direct lysis/engagement of tumor by CAR-T or other engineered immune effectors targeting the TSA.