Research progress of neoantigens in gynecologic cancers

• Published in: International immunopharmacology Vol. 112; p. 109236
• Main Authors: Song, Yuli, Zhang, Yi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-11-2022
• Subjects: Cancer vaccine; Gynecologic cancers; Immunotherapy; Neoantigen; Gynecologic cancers; Cancer vaccine; Immunotherapy; Neoantigen
• ISSN: 1567-5769; 1878-1705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109236

•Even with relatively low mutational burdens, TILs that recognize tumor neoantigens can be specifically identified in the majority of ovarian cancer (OC) patients using different techniques.•DC-based vaccines have been well used in OC clinical trials and can effectively reduce ascites as well as CA125 levels in patients.•OC patients receiving neoantigen immunotherapy often have received a large number of treatments in advance, it is necessary to treat these OC patients with vaccines targeting multiple neoantigens.•Vaccines targeting frameshift peptides in endometrial cancer can effectively induce protective immune responses and improve prognosis.•Cervical cancers (CCs) co-infected with HPV tend to have higher levels of neoantigens, and CCs with high levels of neoantigens are effective candidates for immune checkpoint therapy.
The incidence and mortality of gynecological cancers have increased over the past decade. In the absence of effective treatment strategies, many advanced patients develop resistance to conventional therapies and have poor prognosis. Neoantigens have emerged as a novel tumor-specific antigen (TSA) that arises from genomic mutations in tumor cells. With higher immunogenicity than tumor-associated antigens (TAA), they have no risk of developing autoimmune response, leading them an attractive candidate for tumor therapeutic vaccines. With the development of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, the identification of neoantigens has been gradually improved, and the scope of application of neoantigen vaccines has continued to expand. Combined with other therapies such as immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) or adoptive cell therapy (ACT), the application of neoantigen in gynecological cancers has extended to clinical practice. Here, we reviewed the preclinical and clinical studies of neoantigens in gynecological cancers.