Tn antigen analogues: the synthetic way to "upgrade" an attracting tumour associated carbohydrate antigen (TACA).

In the last two decades, the paramount importance of Tumor Associated Carbohydrate Antigens (TACAs) as targets for anticancer vaccine development has been firmly assessed. The Tn antigen is an ideal target for immunotherapy, in that it is masked on normal cells, but exposed on cancer cells. However, it is difficult to elicit an effective and long-lasting response against Tn antigen and other TACAs. Here we report on the Tn antigen analogues developed to boost the latent Tn immune response. Hopefully, the results reported herein will be of help for the rational design of effective TACA-based immunostimulants.