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Review
. 2014 Feb;14(2):135-46.
doi: 10.1038/nrc3670.

Tumour antigens recognized by T lymphocytes: at the core of cancer immunotherapy

Pierre G Coulie  1 , Benoît J Van den Eynde  2 , Pierre van der Bruggen  2 , Thierry Boon  3
Affiliations
Review

Tumour antigens recognized by T lymphocytes: at the core of cancer immunotherapy

Pierre G Coulie et al. Nat Rev Cancer. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

In this Timeline, we describe the characteristics of tumour antigens that are recognized by spontaneous T cell responses in cancer patients and the paths that led to their identification. We explain on what genetic basis most, but not all, of these antigens are tumour specific: that is, present on tumour cells but not on normal cells. We also discuss how strategies that target these tumour-specific antigens can lead either to tumour-specific or to crossreactive T cell responses, which is an issue that has important safety implications in immunotherapy. These safety issues are even more of a concern for strategies targeting antigens that are not known to induce spontaneous T cell responses in patients.

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