title: Specificity in cancer immunotherapy.
abstract: From the earliest days in the field of tumor immunology three questions have been asked: do cancer cells express tumor-specific antigens, does the immune system recognize these antigens and if so, what is their biochemical nature? We now know that truly tumor-specific antigens exist, that they are caused by somatic mutations, and that these antigens can induce both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. Because tumor-specific antigens are exclusively expressed by the cancer cell and are often crucial for tumorigenicity, they are ideal targets for anti-cancer immunotherapy. Nevertheless, the antigens that are targeted today by anti-tumor immunotherapy are not tumor-specific antigens, but antigens that are normal molecules also expressed by normal tissues (so-called "tumor-associated" antigens). If tumor-specific antigens exist and are ideal targets for immunotherapy, why are they not being targeted? In this review, we summarize current knowledge of tumor-specific antigens: their identification, immunological relevance and clinical use. We discuss novel tumor-specific epitopes and propose new approaches that could improve the success of cancer immunotherapy, especially for the treatment of solid tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Committee on Immunology, The University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue MC 3008, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. hszz@midway.uchicago.edu
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schietinger
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Philip
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schreiber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000276:immunology*; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D006031:Glycosylation; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D019496:Cancer Vaccines