title: Tissue expression and sero-reactivity of tumor-specific antigens in colorectal cancer.
abstract: The expression of 14 individual and two groups of tumor antigens was characterized for colorectal carcinoma by RT-PCR using 26 colorectal carcinoma specimens, eight cell lines, six samples of patients with inflammatory bowl diseases, and nine specimens from different locations of an individual patient with a metastasized rectal carcinoma. The most frequently detected mRNAs were MAGE-A1 (58%), GAGE-3-7 (54%), and cTAGE-5a (31%). At medium frequencies (12-19%) we found cTAGE-1, MAGE-A2, se57-1, RAGE-4, and GAGE-1,2,8, while other tumor antigens were expressed rarely (<9%). 85% of the samples were positive for at least one of the most frequently expressed antigens. Using a secondary SEREX approach and sera of eight colorectal cancer patients we found reactive antibodies against recombinant cTAGE-1 (2 sera), se57-1 (2), truncated GAGE (1), and MAGE-A1 (1). We conclude that certain cancer-germline genes can be detected in colorectal cancer and might therefore be promising targets for immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Skin Cancer Unit (D070), Im Neuecheimer Field 280, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gerhardt
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Usener
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keese
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sturm
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schadendorf
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eichmüller
mesh_terms: D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D058950:Melanoma-Specific Antigens; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; C063419:CTAGE1 protein, human; C113434:GAGE7 protein, human; D058950:Melanoma-Specific Antigens; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger