The Clinical Application of Neoantigens in Esophageal Cancer

• Main Authors: Yi-Min Gu, Yue Zhuo, Long-Qi Chen, Yong Yuan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-07-01
• Series: Frontiers in Oncology
• Subjects: esophageal cancer; immunotherapy; neoantigen; cancer vaccine; adoptive cell therapy
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2021.703517/full

Esophageal cancer (EC) is a common malignant tumor with poor prognosis, and current treatments for patients with advanced EC remain unsatisfactory. Recently, immunotherapy has been recognized as a new and promising approach for various tumors. EC cells present a high tumor mutation burden and harbor abundant tumor antigens, including tumor-associated antigens and tumor-specific antigens. The latter, also referred to as neoantigens, are immunogenic mutated peptides presented by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules. While current genomics and bioinformatics technologies have greatly facilitated the identification of tumor neoantigens, identifying individual neoantigens systematically for successful therapies remains a challenging problem. Owing to the initiation of strong, specific tumor-killing cytotoxic T cell responses, neoantigens are emerging as promising targets to develop personalized treatment and have triggered the development of cancer vaccines, adoptive T cell therapies, and combination therapies. This review aims to give a current understanding of the clinical application of neoantigens in EC and provide direction for future investigation.