title: Limited SP17 expression within tumors diminishes its therapeutic potential.
abstract: In this study, we have investigated the expression of the tumor antigen sperm protein 17 (SP17) in a large panel of human cancers and compared it with the expression of two well-characterized families of tumor antigens, melanoma-associated antigen-A (MAGE-A) and G antigen (GAGE). We found that SP17 was expressed in many cancer types with an overall frequency of 12%. SP17 was most frequently expressed in a different set of cancer types than MAGE-A and GAGE antigens and rarely overlapped with these proteins. Importantly, SP17 expression was limited to a small number of scattered cancer cells in most positive tumors in contrast to MAGE-A and GAGE proteins, which were homogenously expressed in large foci. Our results suggest that SP17 may not be an optimal target for cancer vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer and Inflammation Research, Institute for Molecular Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. mgjerstorff@health.sdu.dk
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Gjerstorff
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Ditzel
mesh_terms: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008297:Male; D058950:Melanoma-Specific Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D000951:Antigens, Neoplasm; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D002148:Calmodulin-Binding Proteins; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D058950:Melanoma-Specific Antigens; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C090172:SPA17 protein, human