About
From the clinician’s perspective, oncology has undergone a major development in recent years. As cancer research progressed, it became clear that each tumour has a unique molecular fingerprint and therefore requires tailored treatment strategies. As such, oncological treatments became more elegant and precise, and went from surgery as the only option towards radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and more recently towards precision medicine.
A key challenge remains tumour heterogeneity, which contributes to variable treatment responses. To overcome this, biomarkers have been central to precision oncology. Tumour associated antigens (TAAs) and tumour specific antigen (TSAs, also known as neo-antigens) are used in precision medicine efforts, particularly in immunotherapies, as a specific tool to redirect the host’s immune system against tumour cells. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing, once restricted to transplantation purposes, has emerged as a critical biomarker in precision oncology, bridging the gap between molecular data and clinical decision-making. Recent studies highlight the impact of HLA polymorphisms on antigen presentation, immune recognition, and response to immunotherapy across tumor types, including lung, breast, and prostate cancers.
Additionally, HLA typing is being investigated as a companion diagnostics (CDx) for highly targeted therapies, including HLA-restricted cancer vaccines and HLA-directed adoptive T-cell approaches. Incorporating routine HLA typing into the oncological clinic can have the potential to enhance patient stratification, improve response rates, and streamline drug development. As always, challenges remain, including the complexity of HLA diversity, standardization of typing methods, and integration into routine clinical workflows. Advances in next-generation sequencing, computational modeling, and biomarker-driven clinical trials are helping to address these hurdles. By refining patient selection and guiding therapeutic choices, HLA-based biomarker strategies are paving the way toward more effective, personalized immunotherapy.
