Cancer immunotherapy targeting neoantigens derived from tumor-specific gene mutations.

Cancer immunotherapies targeting "tumor-associated antigens" derived from wild-type proteins have shown limited success in clinical trials to date. Recent development of next generation sequencing and bioinformatics technology has allowed identification of "neoanti- gens" derived from genetic alterations, such as mutations, insertions, and deletions, re- stricted to tumor cells. Tumor-specific neoantigens, but not tumor-associated antigens, can be recognized as "foreign" by the host immune system. Therefore, they might show higher immunogenicity and more efficiently activate anti-tumor immune responses capable of con- trolling tumor burden. In this review article, I have summarized and discussed clinical signifi- cance of tumor-specific neoantigens and their potential clinical application for personalized cancer immunotherapies.