Antigens in Immune-Oncotherapy

Therapeutic vaccination is admitted to be a promising axis in onco-therapy. Contrary to preventive vaccination, which is mainly effective through the action of antibodies, onco-therapeutic vaccination requires the action of cellular immunity and in particular cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes. Development of such vaccines requires a rational antigenic choice and efficient vaccination vectors to induce robust, high quality and durable T-cell responses, and when necessary to overcome the T-cell tolerance. Here, we review the two categories of antigens that can be targeted by onco-therapeutic vaccines, namely Tumor-Associated Antigens (TAAs) and Tumor-Specific Antigens (TSAs), by giving examples and describing advantages and limitations of each antigen category. Combination of one or more appropriately selected antigens with, for instance, the powerful lentiviral vaccine vector platform, is a novel approach for the development of new generations of onco-therapeutic vaccines.