title: Expression of cancer/testis tumor associated antigens in cervical squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: We investigated the expression of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) of the cancer/testis (C/T) gene family in cervical squamous cell carcinomas. First, we focused on the HeLa cervical cancer derived cell line, and we found that it expresses MAGE-A1, MAGE-A2, MAGE-A3, MAGE-A4, MAGE-A6, MAGE-A12, GAGE-3/6, LAGE-1, and PRAME genes, encoding defined C/T TAA. In contrast, no expression of MAGE-A10, BAGE, GAGE-1/2, or NY-ESO-1 genes was observed. Corresponding gene products could also be detected by immunoblotting and immunocytochemistry, taking advantage of monoclonal antibodies recognizing discrete TAA. Capitalizing on these data, a monoclonal antibody predominantly recognizing MAGE-A4 TAA in paraffin-embedded sections (57B) was used to investigate the C/T gene expression in clinical tumor samples. A group of 60 patients was studied, and 57B positivity was detectable to different extents in 33% of the cases (20/60). In 13 of them (21%), staining of over 50% of the tumor cells was evident, whereas healthy cells always scored negative. Remarkably, MAGE-A4 expression was significantly (p < 0.05) more frequently detectable in poorly differentiated tumors (8/13) than in well-differentiated or moderately differentiated cancers (3/15 and 9/32, respectively) and in stage FIGO II as compared with stage FIGO Ib tumors (12/23 and 5/24, respectively, p = 0.04). Interestingly, staining was mostly nuclear in well-differentiated tumors, but involved both nuclei and cytoplasm in less differentiated cancers. Positivities of comparable frequency were also detectable in a smaller series of specimens upon staining with MAGE-A1- or NY-ESO-1/LAGE-1-specific reagents. Considering the high tumor specificity of C/T TAA, our data provide the rationale for the design of immunotherapy procedures targeting these antigens in cervical cancers.
authors.affiliation: University Hospital for Tumors, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Bozena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sarcevic
authors.forename: Giulio C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Spagnoli
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Terracciano
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schultz-Thater
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heberer
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gamulin
authors.forename: Zdenko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Krajina
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oresic
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Separovic
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Juretic
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D058950:Melanoma-Specific Antigens; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; C072013:MAGEA3 protein, human; C095204:MAGEA4 protein, human; C420909:Mage-a2 antigen; D058950:Melanoma-Specific Antigens; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins