International neoantigen initiative Tumor Neoantigen Selection Alliance (TESLA) identifies parameters for cancer vaccine or cell therapy advancement

SAN FRANCISCO – Neoantigens, tiny markers that arise from cancer mutations, flag cells as cancerous and could be the key to unlocking a new generation of immunotherapies. Targeting the “right” neoantigens – in a cancer vaccine or a cell therapy – has the promise to eliminate a patient’s cancer with minimal side effects. But hundreds of mutations can exist in a tumor, and only some can give rise to neoantigens that can trigger an immune response against cancer. The question is, which ones?

Scientists from an initiative launched by the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) and the Cancer Research Institute called the Tumor Neoantigen Selection Alliance (TESLA) have discovered parameters to better predict which neoantigens can stimulate a cancer-killing effect. TESLA brings together a constellation of 36 top biotech, pharma, university and scientific nonprofit research teams. Their findings were published online today in Cell and could spawn a new generation of more effective, personalized cancer immunotherapies. Read full release…

Kristen Dang and Justin Guinney led the Sage Bionetworks team that collaborated on this study and paper.