Neoantigens: promising targets for cancer therapy
Open accessAbstract
Recent advances in neoantigen research have accelerated the development and regulatory approval of tumor immunotherapies, including cancer vaccines, adoptive cell therapy and antibody-based therapies, especially for solid tumors. Neoantigens are newly formed antigens generated by tumor cells as a result of various tumor-specific alterations, such as genomic mutation, dysregulated RNA splicing, disordered post-translational modification, and integrated viral open reading frames. Neoantigens are recognized as non-self and trigger an immune response that is not subject to central and peripheral tolerance. The quick identification and prediction of tumor-specific neoantigens have been made possible by the advanced development of next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic technologies. Compared to tumor-associated antigens, the highly immunogenic and tumor-specific neoantigens provide emerging targets for personalized cancer immunotherapies, and serve as prospective predictors for tumor survival prognosis and immune checkpoint blockade responses. The development of cancer therapies will be aided by understanding the mechanism underlying neoantigen-induced anti-tumor immune response and by streamlining the process of neoantigen-based immunotherapies. This review provides an overview on the identification and characterization of neoantigens and outlines the clinical applications of prospective immunotherapeutic strategies based on neoantigens. We also explore their current status, inherent challenges, and clinical translation potential.
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“However, the immune system cannot recognize the majority of tumor antigens because they are considered to be self-proteins [10].”
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- Authors
- Xie, N., Shen, G., Gao, W., Huang, Z., Huang, C., & Fu, L.
- Affiliations
- Sichuan University (CN)
- Chengdu University (CN)
- Shenzhen University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Huang, Canhua
- Fu, Li
- Venue
- Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
- Published
- 2023-01-06
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 9-9
- ISSN
- 2059-3635 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9816309
- OpenAlex
- W4313547267
- Cited by
- 1,020
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 264 · 2025: 405 · 2024: 257 · 2023: 91 · 2022: 1 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 31.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (#81821002, ZYJC21004, 82173003, 81972665, ZYGD22007, 82130082, 2020YFA0509400, 2019B030302012, 82103168, 81790251, JCYJ20200109113810154, 82102738)
- Sichuan University (82130082, ZYGD22007, ZYJC21004)
- West China Hospital, Sichuan University (ZYJC21004, ZYGD22007, 82103168, 82102738, 82130082)
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (81790251, 82130082, 2020YFA0509400, 81821002, 81972665, ZYJC21004, ZYGD22007, 2019B030302012)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
- Keywords
- neoantigens, cancer immunotherapy, personalized cancer vaccines, adoptive immunotherapy, antibody-based therapy, tumor-specific antigens, tumor-associated antigens, neoantigen prediction, immune tolerance, immune checkpoint blockade, antitumor immunity, solid tumors, cancer prognosis, clinical translation
- MeSH terms
- Antigens, Neoplasm, Humans, Immunotherapy, Neoplasms, Cancer Vaccines
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