TUMOR-ANTIGENS AND TUMOR VACCINES - PEPTIDES AS IMMUNOGENS

Tumor antigens recognized by human cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) have been identified for multiple types of solid tumors. These include both shared and unique antigens. Unique antigens are those expressed uniqu ely by one patient's tumor, and shared antigens are those present on t umor cells from many different patients. Many of the shared antigens a re derived from tissue-specific differentiation antigens, oncogenes, o r a set of antigens expressed only in tumors or in testis. in addition to advances in understanding tumor antigens that stimulate CTL and T- helper cell responses, there have been advances in understanding immun ity in general, including the characterization of cytokines, the recog nition of the dendritic cell as an optimal antigen-presenting cell (AP C), and the characterization of costimulatory molecules as critical co mponents of antigen presentation. Together, these developments have br eathed new life into tumor immunology, and they promise to lead to a n ew generation of peptide- and cell-based tumor vaccines. (C) 1996 Wile y-Liss, Inc.