# HLA-A*02:01 (HLA typing for TCR therapies)

Source: https://onco.cc/biomarkers/hla-a-02-01/  
OnCo record `hla-a-02-01` (Biomarker). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

HLA-A*02:01 is the commonest tissue-type molecule in people of European descent and the one the first T-cell receptor therapies were built for. Tebentafusp and afamitresgene autoleucel work only in patients who carry it, so a blood HLA test comes before the tumour test.

## Summary

HLA typing by sequencing (the SeCore CDx HLA Sequencing System is the FDA-listed companion diagnostic for both drugs) reports the patient's HLA-A alleles. Tebentafusp (Kimmtrak) is labelled for HLA-A*02:01-positive adults with unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma; afamitresgene autoleucel (Tecelra) for synovial sarcoma in patients who are HLA-A*02:01P, -A*02:02P, -A*02:03P or -A*02:06P positive and whose tumour expresses MAGE-A4 by the MAGE-A4 IHC 1F9 pharmDx, with HLA-A*02:05P as an exclusion allele. About 45 percent of Europeans and fewer people of African or East Asian ancestry carry A*02:01, which limits access and drives development of TCR therapies for other alleles.

## Fields

- Kind: Biomarker
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: HLA-A*02:01; HLA-A2; HLA-A*02:01-positive; HLA-A0201; HLA typing; HLA-A*02
- Tags: biomarker; hla

## Sources

- KIMMTRAK prescribing information (DailyMed): https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=24a49f57-d2fc-4ffe-9eb1-fe0460c6b067
- TECELRA prescribing information (DailyMed): https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=ab24631f-3364-46e1-8074-7244863bcbab

## Connected records

- biomarkers: [PD-L1 CPS (combined positive score)](https://onco.cc/biomarkers/pd-l1-cps/)
- cancers: [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Synovial sarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/synovial-sarcoma/), [Uveal melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/uveal-melanoma/)
- drugs: [Afamitresgene autoleucel](https://onco.cc/drugs/afamitresgene-autoleucel/), [Tebentafusp](https://onco.cc/drugs/tebentafusp/)
- terms: [HLA-A*02:01 restriction](https://onco.cc/terms/hla-a02-restriction/), [Uveal melanoma prognostic markers (GNAQ/GNA11, monosomy 3, gene-expression class)](https://onco.cc/terms/uveal-melanoma-prognostic-markers/)
- targets: [HLA-A](https://onco.cc/targets/hla-a/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/hla-a-02-01.json