Epitopes, also referred to as antigenic determinants, are parts of an antigen that are recognized by the immune system. A<unk>  is an epitope the immune system has not encountered before. Therefore it is not subject to tolerance mechanisms of the immune system. As the mutant gene product is only expressed in tumors and is not found in non-cancerous cells,<unk> s may evoke a vigorous T cell response. Tumor Mutational Burden (TMB, the number of mutations within a targeted genetic region in the cancerous cell's DNA) correlates with the number of<unk> s, and have been suggested to correlate with patient survival post immunotherapy, although the findings about the neoantigen/immunogenicity association are disputed.<unk> s arise from post-translational modifications. The mRNA translates information from the DNA into polypeptide composed of 20 standard amino acids and then proteins. Several of the standard amino acids can be posttranslationally modified by enzymatic processes, or can be altered through spontaneous (nonenzymatic) biochemical reactions. There is increasing evidence that immune recognition of<unk> s produced by cancer-specific mutations is a key mechanism for the induction of immune-mediated tumor rejection. Opportunities for therapeutic targeting of cancer specific<unk> s are under investigation.
Neoepitope
Conformational epitope
Linear epitope
Endotype
Replicon 
Isotype 
Insertion sequence
Gene