Recognition of shared melanoma antigens by human tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes

We have established that melanomas express shared tumor antigens (Ags) that can be recognized by T cells if presented in the context of self-MHC molecules. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) from six melanoma patients were tested for lysis of large panels of HLA-matched or unmatched targets representing a variety of tissue types. Lysis was specific for allogeneic melanomas sharing at least one HLA-A, -B, or -C Ag with TILs, and demonstrated commonly expressed tumor Ags. Similar findings were obtained when cytokine secretion by TILs was used to indicate specific Ag recognition. Transfection of the HLA-A2.1 gene into HLA-A2^- melanoma lines conferred susceptibility to lysis by HLA-A2 restricted melanoma TILs, demonstrating expression of common tumor Ags among patients of diverse HLA types. These findings have important implications for developing broadly applicable cancer immunotherapies such as vaccines.