Muc1 Immunotherapy

Abstract

The overexpression and aberrant glycosylation of MUC1 is associated with a wide variety of cancers, making it an ideal target for immunotherapeutic strategies. This review highlights the main avenues of research in this field, focusing on adenocarcinomas, from the preclinical to clinical; the problems and possible solutions associated with each approach; and speculates on the direction of MUC1 immunotherapeutic research over the next 5–10 years.

KEYWORDS::

• aberrant O-linked glycosylation
• cancer
• episialin
• immunotherapy
• MUC1
• polymorphic epithelial mucin

Acknowledgements

Figure 1 was kindly supplied by Nadine Bizouarne from Transgene SA, Boulevard Gonthier d‘Andernach, Parc d‘Innovation – CS80166, F-67405 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, Strasbourg, France. Figure 2 was kindly imaged by Lucienne Cooper of the Breast Cancer Biology Group, London, UK. We would like to thank Ms Gursharn Hutchins for invaluable administrative support.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was supported by Cancer Research UK (registered charity No. 1089464. 61 Lincoln‘s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, UK) and King‘s College London (The Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Cancer Research UK (registered charity No. 1089464. 61 Lincoln‘s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PX, UK) and King‘s College London (The Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.