Expression of cancer/testis (CT) antigens in Chinese hepatocellular carcinoma and its correlation with clinical parameters.
For investigating the expression of cancer/testis (CT) antigens in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in China, and evaluating the correlations between the expression of these CT antigens and clinical parameters, we collected tumors and adjacent non-cancerous tissues of 43 HCC patients from Beijing and 30 HCC patients from Guangxi province. Expression of the mRNA of 14 CT antigens was evaluated by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). The correlation between CT antigen expression and clinical parameters was statistically analyzed. The mRNA expression frequencies of CT antigens in tumor tissue were: MAGE-A1, 69.9%; MAGE-A3, 47.9%; MAGE-A4, 20.0%; MAGE-A10, 36.7%; SSX-1, 67.4%; SSX-2, 35.6%; SSX-4, 48.8%; SSX-5, 30.2%; NY-ESO-1, 42.5%; MAGE-B1, 52.0%; MAGE-B2, 60.0%; MAGE-C1, 48.0%; MAGE-C2, 68.0%; and SCP-1, 33.3%. However, in adjacent tissues, no CT antigen mRNA expression was detected, except SSX-1 in 9.3% patients. In each HCC tissue, the expression of a minimum of one, two, or three CT antigens was in the range of 80-90, 70-80 or 50-70%, respectively. MAGE-A3 mRNA expression differed between the HCC patients in Beijing and Guangxi (P=0.002). The average age of the HCC patients bearing CT antigen positive tumors was higher than that of the HCC patients bearing CT antigen negative tumors. The expression of MAGE-A3, SSX-1, SSX-2, SSX-4, MAGE-B2, MAGE-C1, and MAGE-C2 correlated significantly with older age (P<0.05). Moreover, the expressions of MAGE-A4 and SCP-1 were related to alpha-fetoprotein abnormality (P<0.05), and the expression of NY-ESO-1 was related to early tumor stage (P<0.05). There was no correlation observed between the expression of CT antigens and the sex, HBV infection or tumor size.
Peng
Ji-run
JR
Center of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Peking University Health Science Center People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China.
Chen
Hong-song
HS
Mou
Dong-cheng
DC
Cao
Ji
J
Cong
Xu
X
Qin
Liu-liang
LL
Wei
Lai
L
Leng
Xi-sheng
XS
Wang
Yu
Y
Chen
Wei-feng
WF
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000276:immunology*; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012737:Sex Factors; D013737:Testis / Q000276:immunology
D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D012333:RNA, Messenger