# HLA-A

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

## TL;DR

HLA-A is the molecule that holds up short pieces of a cell's proteins for T cells to inspect. Engineered T-cell receptor therapies such as tebentafusp and afami-cel only work in people with the HLA-A*02 variant, because the receptor recognises the tumour peptide sitting in that particular groove.

## Summary

HLA-A (chromosome 6p22.1) is a class I MHC molecule that, with beta-2-microglobulin, displays mainly viral and tumour-derived peptides for recognition by the alpha-beta T-cell receptor on HLA-A-restricted CD8 T cells, guiding the response that eliminates infected or transformed cells; it can also present self-peptides from signal sequences, to which T cells are normally inactivated (UniProt P04439). It matters in oncology because TCR-based drugs are allele-specific: tebentafusp (gp100 peptide on HLA-A*02:01, approved 2022 for uveal melanoma), afamitresgene autoleucel (MAGE-A4 230-239 peptide on HLA-A*02, approved for synovial sarcoma), letetresgene autoleucel (NY-ESO-1/LAGE-1a on HLA-A*02) and brenetafusp (PRAME on HLA-A*02:01) all require the HLA-A*02 genotype as well as antigen expression.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Also known as: HLA-A*02; HLA-A*02:01; major histocompatibility complex, class I, A
- Tags: wave5-target
- Symbol: HLA-A
- Class: surface-antigen
- Biology: The antigen-presentation pathway record describes the escape routes: tumours that lose beta-2-microglobulin or HLA stop showing peptides and become invisible to CD8 T cells and to these therapies, and the HLA genotype shapes which mutations are visible at all.
- Where found: Eligibility marker (HLA-A*02) for TCR-T and soluble TCR therapies in uveal melanoma, synovial sarcoma and myxoid/round cell liposarcoma; All nucleated cells (antigen presentation)

## Notes

- Prevalence not recorded in this wave: HGNC and UniProt carry no positivity rates and no other source was consulted.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:4931: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:4931
- UniProt P04439: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P04439/entry
- NCBI Gene 3105: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/3105

## Connected records

- targets: [CD3](https://onco.cc/targets/cd3/), [gp100 (PMEL)](https://onco.cc/targets/gp100/), [MAGE-A4](https://onco.cc/targets/mage-a4/), [PRAME](https://onco.cc/targets/prame/)
- cancers: [Melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/melanoma/), [Sarcomas (soft tissue, bone, GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/sarcoma/), [Synovial sarcoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/synovial-sarcoma/), [Uveal melanoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/uveal-melanoma/)
- technologies: [TCR-T cell therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/tcr-t/)
- drugs: [Afamitresgene autoleucel](https://onco.cc/drugs/afamitresgene-autoleucel/), [Brenetafusp](https://onco.cc/drugs/brenetafusp/), [Letetresgene autoleucel](https://onco.cc/drugs/letetresgene-autoleucel/), [Tebentafusp](https://onco.cc/drugs/tebentafusp/)
- pathways: [Antigen presentation & immune editing](https://onco.cc/pathways/antigen-presentation-immunoediting/), [The cancer-immunity cycle](https://onco.cc/pathways/cancer-immunity-cycle/)

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