IDENTIFICATION OF TUMOR-PROTECTIVE EPITOPES FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCERS

摘要

Described herein are methods of identifying tumor-specific epitopes from the cancer tissue DNA of cancer patients using both DNA sequencing and bioinformatics techniques. The identification of tumor-specific epitopes provides pharmaceutical compositions with a limited number of tumor-specific peptides suitable for personalized genomics-driven immunotherapy of human cancer. Specifically disclosed herein is a novel index called the Differential Agretopic Index (DAI) for the epitope which allows prediction of whether immunization with a particular epitope will be protective against the tumor. Pharmaceutical compositions and methods of administration are also included.