Cholangiocarcinoma
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare but aggressive disease of bile duct tumors that is heterogeneous. The obvious signs and symptoms of CCA include jaundice, abdominal pain, abnormal liver function tests, and weight loss. Alfa Cytology is a world leader in the development of cancer vaccines. With our extensive experience and advanced platform, we are confident that we can provide the best vaccine development services for CCA.
Introduction to Cholangiocarcinoma
CCA is a type of cancer composed of mutated epithelial cells or cells that exhibit epithelial differentiation. CCA originates in the bile ducts that drain bile from the liver into the small intestine.
The Difficulties of Cholangiocarcinoma Therapy
Inter-tumor and intra-tumor heterogeneity is a well-known phenomenon in CCA. The cancer is rarely diagnosed at an early stage and exhibits a high mortality rate. In addition, there are limited therapy options for advanced disease beyond first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Here are some of the main reasons. Therefore, there is still a need to accelerate the development of new immunotherapies.
- Invasiveness
- Weak Immunomodulatory Ability
- Highly Pro-desmoplastic Property
- Lack of Biomarkers
- Inaccessible Anatomical Location
TAA or Epitope of Cholangiocarcinoma
As immunogenic targets, tumor-associated antigens (TAA) are often associated with poorer prognosis in various cancers. Here are some commonly used targets for CCA.
- Wilms' Tumor Protein 1 (WT1)
- Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)
- Cadherin 3 (CDH3)
- Mucin Protein 1 (MUC1)
- Cycle Association Protein 1 (CDC1)
- Kinesin Family Member 20A (KIF20A)
Various Cancer Vaccine Types of Cholangiocarcinoma
For the relevant cancer antigen target, the vaccine best suited to the antigen can be developed by screening the antigen, adjuvant, and delivery system. For example, the most straightforward peptide vaccine. mRNA-based cancer vaccines are considered a promising strategy and a hot spot in cancer immunotherapy. In addition, because dendritic cells (DC) are effective professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and effective therapeutic cancer vaccine carriers for presenting tumor antigens, targeted or tumor lysate-based DC vaccines can also be a focus of development.
Our Service
Alfa Cytology provides therapeutic cholangiocarcinoma vaccine development services, including but not limited to the following.
In addition, we also provide neoantigen recognition and identification services, adjuvant selection services, and delivery system adaptation services for cholangiocarcinoma. The molecular biology and immunology technology platform of Alfa Cytology helps to develop cancer vaccines that can be used as cancer immunotherapies.
Due to high heterogeneity, anti-tumor immunity can vary greatly between individual cancer patients. Despite great progress in understanding the pathogenesis of CCA, more scientific validation and efforts are needed as the incidence of CCA increases worldwide. Alfa Cytology is committed to the research and development of cancer vaccines, from the discovery of cancer antigens, and the development of different types of vaccines, to vaccine research for different cancer types, providing one-stop services. If you are interested in our service, please contact us.