Is there a need to identify novel tumour antigens as targets for immunotherapy clinical trials for the removal of minimal residual disease in haematological malignancies?

Abstract

Despite the many tumour antigens (mutant, overexpressed or abnormally expressed proteins found in cancer cells), which can serve as targets for cancer vaccines and/or T-cell therapy, very few have been used in immunotherapy clinical trials. This was highlighted by Stephen Rosenberg et al’s publication in Nature Medicine  (Rosenberg et al., 2004) which summarised the outcomes of 440 patients with metastatic cancer who were treated with 541 different cancer vaccines at the Surgery Branch of NCI between February 1995 and April 2004. The group found that only 2.6% of participants showed an overall objective response rate.