title: Identifying autoantibody signatures in cancer: a promising challenge.
abstract: Biomarkers that show high sensitivity and specificity are needed for the early diagnosis and prognosis of cancer. An immune response to cancer is elicited in humans, as demonstrated, in part, by the identification of autoantibodies against a number of tumor-associated antigen (TAAs) in sera from patients with different types of cancer. Identification of TAAs and their cognate autoantibodies is a promising strategy for the discovery of relevant biomarkers. During the past few years, three proteomic approaches, including serological identification of antigens by recombinant expression cloning (SEREX), serological proteome analysis (SERPA) and, more recently, protein microarrays, have been the dominant strategies used to identify TAAs and their cognate autoantibodies. In this review, we aim to describe the advantages, drawbacks and recent improvements of these approaches for the study of humoral responses. Finally, we discuss the definition of autoantibody signatures to improve sensitivity for the development of clinically relevant tests.
authors.affiliation: CHU Montpellier, Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Hormonale, Hôpital Arnaud de Villeneuve, 371 Avenue du Doyen Giraud, Montpellier, F-34295, France. caroline.desmetz@univ-montp1.fr
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Desmetz
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maudelonde
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mangé
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Solassol
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D040901:Proteomics
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies