Identification of human tumor antigens recognized by T-cells and their use for immunotherapy.

Identification of human tumor antigens led to development of new immunotherapies for patients with cancer. Identification of T-cell epitopes allowed us to monitor antitumor T-cell responses quantitatively and qualitatively during immunotherapy as well as to develop more efficient immunotherapies with sufficient amounts of antigens in more immunogenic forms. Various immunotherapies, passive immunotherapies, including adoptive transfer of tumor reactive T-cells or allogeneic antigen-specific donor T-cells, and active immunization with identified tumor antigens or dendritic cells pulsed with tumor antigens are being evaluated in clinical trials. Although tumor regression has been observed in some patients, further improvement is required.