title: Expression of the cancer/testis antigen NY-ESO-1 in primary and metastatic malignant melanoma (MM)--correlation with prognostic factors.
abstract: Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are potential targets for cancer immunotherapy, with NY-ESO-1 being among the most immunogenic. In several clinical trials in malignant melanoma (MM) patients, NY-ESO-1 protein/peptides showed clear evidence of inducing specific immunity. However, little is known about NY-ESO-1 expression in primary and metastatic MM and its relationship to disease progression. We analyzed NY-ESO-1 expression immunohistochemically in a series of primary and metastatic MMs and its relation to prognostic parameters and survival. We studied 61 primary and 63 metastatic MM specimens (from 61 and 56 patients, respectively). The prevalence of NY-ESO-1 expression was significantly higher in metastatic versus primary tumors [18/56 (32%) versus 8/61 (13%), P = 0.015]. There was a significant association between initial stage at presentation and NY-ESO-1 expression [stage I (3.45%), stage II (9.52%) and stage III (45.45%), P = 0.0014]. Primary MMs expressing NY-ESO-1 were significantly thicker than NY-ESO-1 negative cases (median thickness 4.7 mm versus 1.53 mm respectively, P = 0.03). No significant difference was seen in overall survival. In conclusion, NY-ESO-1 is more frequently expressed in metastatic than in primary MM and its expression is associated with thicker primary lesions and a higher frequency of metastatic disease, indicative of a worse prognosis. Our study suggests that patients with metastatic MM who express NY-ESO-1 may benefit from NY-ESO-1-based immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Elsa F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Velazquez
authors.forename: Achim A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Jungbluth
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yancovitz
authors.forename: Sacha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gnjatic
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Kira
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zavilevich
authors.forename: Tatyana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Albukh
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Christos
authors.forename: Madhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazumdar
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pavlick
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Polsky
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spira
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Busam
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Osman
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bhardwaj
mesh_terms: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; C104948:CTAG1B protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins