Patent ID: 8252916

Claim:
An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a reading frame comprising a first sequence, wherein said first sequence encodes one or more segments of a tumor-associated antigen, wherein the antigen is NY-ESO (SEQ ID NO: 11), wherein the first sequence comprises less than 30% of the length of the antigen, or greater than 55% and less than 60% of the length of the antigen, wherein the reading frame does not encode the complete NY-ESO antigen, and wherein each segment comprises an epitope cluster, said cluster comprising or encoding at least two amino acid sequences having a known or predicted affinity for a same MHC Class I receptor peptide binding cleft, wherein said first sequence encodes a fragment of NY-ESO, wherein said encoded fragment comprises an amino acid sequence beginning at one of amino acids selected from the group consisting of 77, 79, 86, and 108 of NY-ESO, and ending at one of the amino acids selected from the group consisting of 104, 140, 167, 171, 174, and 180 of NY-ESO.