Tumor antigen is an antigenic substance produced in tumor cells, i.e., it triggers an immune response in the host. Tumor antigens are useful tumor markers in identifying tumor cells with diagnostic tests and are potential candidates for use in cancer therapy. The field of cancer immunology studies such topics.

Classification of tumor antigens. Tumor antigens can generally be categorized into tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and tumor-specific antigens (TSAs) based on the expression pattern of the parental gene. TAAs are self-proteins expressed in cancer cells; upon malignant transformation, the following consequences can be observed: the overexpression of normal proteins (gene overexpressed), the ...

Tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) are relatively restricted to tumor cells. Tumor-specific antigens (TSAs) are unique to tumor cells. TSAs and TAAs typically are portions of intracellular molecules expressed on the cell surface often associated with molecules encoded by the major histocompatibility complex or human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes.

Mar 9, 2021 · These mechanisms include modulation of antigen expression, HLA-I surface levels, alterations in the antigen processing and presentation machinery in tumour cells.

The term “tumor antigen” has been given a new and much more precise definition as a result of important developments in immunology over the last decade, particularly in the area of antigen presentation and antigen recognition. For something to be a tumor antigen, it must be recognized by specific immune effector cells and/or antibodies and be …

Although tumor antigens expressed on the cell surface are readily accessible for an immune response, intracellular tumor antigens may become immunogenic as a result of distinct processes associated with tumor development and progression including apoptosis and inflammation, which affect antigen presentation and promote a humoral immune response.

Tumour antigens are displayed on the surface of cells by class I human leukocyte antigens (HLA-I). To elicit an effective antitumour response, antigen presentation has to be successful at two distinct events: first, cancer antigens have to be taken up by dendritic cells (DCs) and cross-presented for CD8 + T cell priming.

In some cases these antigens are expressed only at specific stages of differentiation in the normal tissue and are thus termed differentiation antigens. When tissue-specific or differentiation antigens are expressed at considerably higher levels on tumor cells than normal cells, they may function much like tumor-specific antigens.

The introduction of immune checkpoint therapy in the treatment of several cancer types has dramatically changed the landscape of oncology [1, 2]. The success of this approach is based on the paradigm that T lymphocytes, and in particular the CD8 subset [3], recognize tumor antigens that can elicit vigorous immune responses and tumor rejection [4].

Tumor antigens are proteins, glycoproteins, glycolipids, or carbohydrates expressed on the surface of tumor cells. They can be used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, allowing the detection of tumors and monitoring of tumor response to treatment. AI generated definition based on: Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease (Sixth Edition), 2017