title: Head and neck cancer antigens recognized by the humoral immune system.
abstract: Head and neck cancer in advanced stages are difficult to treat. Therefore, development of new treatment modalities and preventive measures are required. We now report the identification of human head and neck cancer antigens recognized by the humoral immune system. We used the serological analysis of recombinant cDNA expression libraries (SEREX) approach. cDNA libraries from cell lines of squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN) and a normal testicle tissue were screened using sera from six allogeneic SCCHN patients. Total 28 positive clones belonging to 19 different genes were identified, including 12 known genes and 7 unknown ones. Expression analysis on 13 normal tissues and 13 cancer tissues using reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) revealed eight ubiquitously expressed genes, nine of which were expressed preferentially in cancer tissues and two cancer/testis antigens. These antigens we defined may be pertinent candidate antigens for future cancer-diagnosis and related immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunogenetics, Department of Neuroscience and Immunology, Kumamoto University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, 2-2-1 Honjo, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monji
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Senju
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakatsura
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Motohiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawatsubashi
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inokuchi
authors.forename: Yasuharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
mesh_terms: D000917:Antibody Formation; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D015723:Gene Library; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009928:Organ Specificity; D012699:Serology; D013737:Testis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D018076:DNA, Complementary