Definition
Tumor antigens (TAs) are antigens recognized by specific immune effector cells and/or antibodies and differentially expressed (qualitatively and/or quantitatively) in the tumor tissue as compared to the normal counterpart tissue.
Characteristics
Tumor Antigens Classification, Expression, and Immune Response
TAs can be divided into tumor-specific antigens (TSAs) that are unique antigens expressed by tumor cells and not by normal cells and tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), which are also expressed by normal cells although at lower levels than in tumor cells (see also Yang and Yang 2005).
TAs include mutated antigens, oncofetal antigens (OFs), cancer–testis antigens (CTs), aberrantly glycosylated and expressed antigens, tissue-lineage antigens, overexpressed antigens, and virally encoded antigens. Classification and examples of tumor antigens are shown in Table 1 (see also Khodadoust and Alizadeh 2014).
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References
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Bei, R. (2014). Tumor Antigens. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6015-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6015-8
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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