Unique tumor antigens redefined as mutant tumor-specific antigens

The extraordinary specificity of immune responses mediated by T cells against individual syngeneic tumors has led to the concept that many tumor antigens are 'unique'. The recent isolation of several T-cell-recognized unique antigens from various murine and human tumors has shown that the antigenic peptides are caused by somatic mutations and, thus, are truly tumor-specific. The following review summarizes current knowledge about these mutant tumor-specific antigens and their possible role in the development and progression of cancer. It also discusses some functional differences between mutant tumor-specific and shared tumor antigens, which generally represent unaltered peptides, also present on some normal cells.