title: MAGE-A family: attractive targets for cancer immunotherapy.
abstract: The melonoma-associated antigens family A (MAGE-A) belongs to cancer/testis antigens (CTA) that are expressed in a wide variety of malignant tumors but not in normal adult tissues except for testis. Interestingly, germ cells do not express MHC class I antigen, implying that these gene products should be ideal targets for cancer immunotherapy. The strict tumor-specific expression of MAGE-As has led to several immunotherapeutic trials targeting some of these proteins. In this review, we briefly described the expression and activation mechanism of MAGE-As in cancer. We also summarized the biological functions of MAGE-As in cell progress and the progress of the cancer immunotherapy targeting MAGE-A family.
authors.affiliation: Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Meixiang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sang
authors.forename: Yishui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lian
authors.forename: Xinliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Baoen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shan
mesh_terms: D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D058950:Melanoma-Specific Antigens / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D058950:Melanoma-Specific Antigens