How can I assess the mechanisms of antigen loss to uncover novel immunotherapeutics?

Antigen-specific responses are a vital component in developing effective immunotherapies against several serious ailments. An ongoing challenge for researchers is predicting changes in antigen presentation by cancer cells during the progression of tumor-specific malignancy. Since these markers are dynamically altered in an immunocompromised environment, this presents a severe challenge in designing tumor-associated antigens to prime immune cells efficiently to kill cancer cells.¹ Pre-clinical investigations have also explored using combinational therapeutics to elicit non-antigen specific immunity when the antigen stability is not a viable option for certain cancers. Otherwise, several considerations impacting antigen loss include genetics of the host, tumor-specific parameters which includes neoantigen presentation and microsatellite instability status, tumor microenvironment, and the microbiome.² For more information on this topic please visit our expanded immunotherapy section.

References:
1. M. Vyas et al, "Antigen Loss Variants: Catching Hold of Escaping Foes," Front Immunol 8(175): 1-7, 2017.
2. L. Milling et al, "Delivering Safer Immunotherapies for Cancer," Adv Drug Deliv Rev 114: 79-101, 2017.