Vaccine Antigen

**Semantic type:** Chemical Viewed Functionally|Immunologic Factor

**Definition:** A vaccine component consisting of a protein, small peptide, or polysaccharide, natural or synthetic, that once administered is bound by antibody, thereby inducing mechanisms of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). In cancer immunotherapy, a cancer vaccine containing specific tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) may be used to boost an immune response against a tumor expressing those TAAs. (NCI04)