Identification of human tumor antigens using the B-cell repertoire

Specific vaccines for the immunotherapy of human neoplasms require specific human tumor antigens. While efforts to identify such antigens by the analysis of the T-cell repertoire yielded only few antigens, the application of SEREX, the serological identification of antigens by recombinant expression cloning, has brought a multitude of new antigens. Several specific antigens have been identified in each tumor tested, suggesting that many, if not all human tumors elicit multiple immune responses in the autologous host. The frequency of human tumor antigens, which can be readily defined at the molecular level, facilitates the identification of T-cell dependent antigens and provides a basis for peptide and genetherapeutic vaccine strategies.