Tumor-specific mutated antigen

Tumor-specific mutated antigens, also known as neoantigens or tumor-specific antigens (TSAs), are abnormal peptides generated by tumor cells due to somatic mutations not found in normal human tissue[1][2][4][7]. These mutations typically arise from changes in coding exons, RNA splicing, gene fusions, or chromosomal rearrangements unique to an individual’s tumor[3][4][5]. Neoantigens are presented on the surface of cancer cells by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and can be recognized as “foreign” by the immune system, provoking strong T cell-mediated immune responses because they bypass central tolerance mechanisms in the thymus[4][5][6][7]. TSAs differ from tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) in that TSAs are only present on tumor cells, making them highly attractive candidates for immunotherapies like personalized cancer vaccines, adoptive T cell therapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitors[2][4][5][6]. These antigens play a key role in the selectivity and efficacy of immunotherapies but pose challenges due to tumor heterogeneity, limited immunogenicity, and the technical difficulty of reliably identifying highly immunogenic neoantigen targets for each patient[3][4][6].

Other names

Tumor-specific antigenNeoantigenTSATumor neoantigenMutation-derived antigen

Immune-mediated destruction via T cells recognizing peptides presented on MHC class I or II molecules