{"id":7918,"date":"2026-06-18T15:29:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cqdm.org\/?post_type=project&p=7918"},"modified":"2026-06-18T15:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T19:31:10","slug":"identification-of-cancer-therapy-induced-tumor-specific-antigens","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/cqdm.org\/en\/achievement\/funded-projects\/identification-of-cancer-therapy-induced-tumor-specific-antigens\/","title":{"rendered":"Identification of cancer therapy-induced tumor specific antigens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Principal Entity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epitopea Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Project <\/span>of $1,127,818 over 18 months<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Supported by CQDM through:<\/strong><\/strong>
    Minist\u00e8re de l\u2019\u00c9conomie, de l\u2019Innovation et de l\u2019\u00c9nergie du Qu\u00e9bec (MEIE)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • And by co-funding partner:<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>
    – Epitopea Inc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    Challenge:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Patients diagnosed with hormone receptor-positive, HER2 negative (HR+) breast cancer are treated with adjuvant endocrine therapy post surgical resection. For many patients with high-risk clinical features, precision small molecule therapies, CDK4\/6 inhibitors, are combined with endocrine therapy as standard of care. While many breast cancer subtypes have benefited from the introduction of immunotherapy, HR+ tumors have been defined as immunologically \u201ccold,\u201d meaning they respond poorly to immune-based approaches. Preliminary studies have shown that the CDK4\/6 inhibitor Abemaciclib can unmask a novel repertoire of tumor-specific antigens, which are small fragments of proteins processed and presented on the surface of cancer cells. The proposal involves a comprehensive annotation of HR+ breast cancer cells to evaluate treatment-induced antigen presentation at the cell surface. To date, this approach has not been systematically utilized or leveraged for therapeutic development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Solution:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The Quebec biotechnology company, Epitopea Inc., proposes to identify and characterize the treatment induced, tumor-specific antigen repertoire that emerges following CDK4\/6 treatment of HR+ breast cancer cells. Using its state-of-the-art antigen discovery platform, CryptoMap\u2122, Epitopea will identify and characterize CDK4\/6-induced tumor antigens including their aberrantly expressed tumor-specific antigens known as Cryptigens\u2122 and evaluate their potential as actionable immunotherapy targets. This approach offers a unique opportunity to render an immunologically \u201ccold\u201d HR+ breast tumor responsive to \u201cfirst in human\u201d precision immunotherapies. Furthermore, they look forward to combining CDK4\/6 inhibition with an \u201coff the shelf\u201d cancer vaccine approach targeting these therapy-induced Cryptigens\u2122 via their CryptiVax\u2122 vaccine modality. This combinatorial approach will provide cancer patients with a more durable, long-term therapeutic response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Expected Achievements \/Impacts<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    The discovery of these treatment-induced tumor specific antigens will provide novel \u201cfirst in human\u201d foundational data for the development of this CryptiVax\u2122 vaccine. A secondary impact of this project is the establishment of a framework for extending CryptiVax\u2122 vaccine development to other immunotherapy-refractory cancers. This work will further strengthen the Quebec life sciences ecosystem by driving RNA therapeutic innovation and supporting Quebec\u2019s emergence as a globally competitive hub.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3830,"template":"","project-category":[96],"class_list":["post-7918","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project-category-small-molecules"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cqdm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project\/7918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cqdm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cqdm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/project"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cqdm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cqdm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"project-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cqdm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project-category?post=7918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}