A listing of human tumor antigens recognized by T cells: March 2004 update

Abstract

The technological advances occurred in the last few years have led to a great increase in the number of tumor associated antigens (TAA) that are currently available for clinical applications. In this review we provide a comprehensive list of human tumor antigens as reported in the literature updated at February 2004. The list includes all T cell-defined epitopes, while excluding analogs or artificially modified epitopes, as well as virus-encoded and antibodies-recognized antigens. TAAs are listed in alphabetical order along with the epitope sequence and the HLA allele which restricts recognition by T cells. Data on the tissue distribution of each antigen are also provided together with an extensive bibliography that allows a rapid search for any additional information may be needed on each single antigen or epitope. Overall, the updated list is a database tool for clinicians, scientists and students who have an interest in the field of tumor immunology and immunotherapy.

Adoptive immunotherapy using human peripheral blood lymphocytes transferred with RNA encoding Her-2/neu-specific chimeric immune receptor in ovarian cancer xenograft model

“…Moreover, most of the tumor cells express multiple tumor-associated antigens, thus T cells can be redirected with combination of scFv-CIRs to elicit antitumor responses against several tumor antigens. 41 Our results demonstrate for the first time in vivo that PBLs electroporated with RNA encoding anti-Her-2/neuspecific CIR elicit potent immune responses against Her-2/neu-overexpressing SKOV3 tumors. To be more feasible, it is necessary to examine further on optimal conditions including cell numbers to inject, injection interval and route in immune-competent model.…”

A phase I trial of intratumoral administration of recombinant oncolytic adenovirus overexpressing HSP70 in advanced solid tumor patients

“…19 However, well-defined tumor antigens are prerequisites for the specific assessment of the T-cell response, because the tumor antigens are different even among the same kind of tumors. 34 Owing to the tumor heterogeneity of our recruited patients, specific cellular immune response could not be easily assessed in this study. The cellular immune status was preliminarily monitored by laboratory lymphocyte subset analysis.…”

Unique Human Tumor Antigens: Immunobiology and Use in Clinical Trials

“…Subsequently, sporadic publications described the expression of such Ags as epitopes recognized by T cells in the context of both class I and II MHC in other human tumors such as non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, renal cancer cells, head/neck cancer, and melanoma (Ref. 6 and Table I). …”

“…Although in only one case the mutation generating a unique melanoma Ag has been proven to have a direct role in tumor metastasis (37), in the majority of unique Ags, the mutations generating the immunogenic epitopes occurred in genes whose functions were relevant for tumor viability and progression (e.g., CDK4, CDKN2A, PTRRK, CASP8, etc. ; see Table I) (6). Starting from this observation, mutation analysis could be performed for those genes belonging to the signal pathways known to be activated or in genes known to work as oncosuppressors for that particular tumor.…”

“…These results stimulated a race to transfer the use of such Ags in clinical trials aimed at assessing the in vivo immunogenicity and clinical efficacy of vaccines based on HLA class I peptide epitopes derived from these Ags. Subsequently, other similar tumor Ags have been discovered belonging to the same families, i.e., cancer/testis and differentiation Ags (6), and new vaccine formulations containing these Ags in the form of peptides, proteins, and recombinant DNA were tested in patients affected by different neoplasms, including melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and a variety of epithelial tumors. Altogether, the clinical outcome of these trials was limited (7,8), despite the ability of some Ags and their combination to generate a high frequency of T cells against the vaccine (9).…”