Abstract
Every cancer is different and cancer cells differ from normal cells, in particular, through genetic alterations. HLA molecules on the cell surface enable T lymphocytes to recognize cellular alterations as antigens, including mutations, increase in gene product copy numbers or expression of genes usually not used in the adult organism. The search for cancer-associated antigens shared by many patients with a particular cancer has yielded a number of hits used in clinical vaccination trials with indication of survival benefit. Targeting cancer-specific antigens, which are exclusively expressed on cancer cells and not on normal cells, holds the promise for much better results and perhaps even a cure. Such antigens, however, may specifically appear in very few patients or may be mutated appearing just in one patient. Therefore, to target these in a molecularly defined way, the approach has to be individualized.