Definition

An off-the-shelf hepatocellular cancer (HCC) multi-peptide-based therapeutic vaccine composed of sixteen peptides derived from tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) expressed by hepatic tumor cells, of which seven are restricted to human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2 (HLA-A*02), five to HLA-A*24 and four to HLA class II, with potential immunomodulating and antineoplastic activities. Upon intradermal administration of the therapeutic liver cancer peptide vaccine IMA970A, the liver-specific peptides in the vaccine activate the immune system to exert both CD4+ T-helper and CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL)-mediated immune responses against liver cancer cells.