Project overview Joint Funding
ImmuNeoMASTER (Impact of mutational pathways on immune environment, neoantigens and tumor rejection for the development of comprehensive biomarker panels and combinatorial approaches in cancer immunotherapy)
Program: CI Funding Line: INNOVATION Project type: research project Entity: multiple entities Status: completed
The ImmuNEO MASTER project represents a comprehensive immune analysis of a cross-entity tumor patient cohort included in the DKTK MASTER program. Multi-site sampling of tumor tissue and blood was performed and used for identification of tumor-specific antigens (neoantigens) as well as a comprehensive analysis of the immune microenvironment. We were able to identify neoantigen candidates in around 70% of patients by peptidomics. Flow cytometry and RNA sequencing data indicate that defined immune regulations are present independent of the tumor origin. Integrative analyses are currently ongoing with over 60 data sets to identify potential prospective biomarkers. The tools and results developed within this project will provide a basis for novel diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in cancer immunotherapy. In particular, our bioinformatics algorithms for identification of neoantigen candidates will set the path for novel clinical immunotherapy studies following the adoptive transfer of neoantigen-specific T cells as well as tumor-specific vaccination approaches.