Many immunotherapies rely on CD8+ effector T cells to recognize and kill cognate tumor cells. These T cell-based immunotherapies include adoptive cell therapy, such as CAR T cells or transgenic TCR T cells, and anti-cancer vaccines which expand endogenous T cell populations. Tumor mutation burden and the choice of antigen are among the most important aspects of T cell-based immunotherapies. Here, we highlight various classes of cancer antigens, including self, neojunction-derived, human endogenous retrovirus (HERV)-derived, and somatic nucleotide variant (SNV)-derived antigens, and consider their utility in T cell-based immunotherapies. We further discuss the respective anti-tumor/anti-self-properties that influence both the degree of immunotolerance and potential off-target effects associated with each antigen class.
Keywords: HERV antigens; T cell-based immunotherapies; alternative splicing-derived neoepitopes; neojunctions; single nucleotide variants; tumor-associated antigens; tumor-specific antigens.