Comprehensive profiling of alternative splicing and immune landscapes in rectal cancer: implications for mRNA vaccine design and immune subtype stratification

Background: mRNA vaccines have emerged as a promising platform for cancer immunotherapy, particularly following the success of COVID-19 vaccines. However, the development of cancer vaccines presents challenges such as difficulties in antigen prediction and poor immunogenicity, especially in identifying and delivering highly immunogenic tumor-specific antigens. The variability and low immunogenicity of tumor antigens further complicates this process. Methods: This study utilized public data and bioinformatics analysis to identify potential tumor antigens in cancer and characterize different immune subtypes. This approach aims to guide the development of cancer mRNA vaccines with enhanced immune response. Results: showing significant correlation with immune cell infiltration. TCGA-READ samples stratified into C1 and C2 subtypes by survival and immune profiles revealed that C2 tumors derive markedly greater benefit from CTLA-4/PD-1 blockade than C1 tumors, underscoring the value of molecular subtyping in guiding precision immunotherapy. Conclusions: was identified as a potential tumor vaccine antigen, and an immune subtype analysis was conducted in different patients. This study provides guidance for the development of novel cancer mRNA vaccines.