Expression of MAGE-A antigens is frequent in triple-negative breast cancers but does not correlate with that of basal-like markers.

摘要

Cancer testis (CT) antigens, which are encoded by genes expressed in germline cells, silenced in normal adult tissues, and ectopically reexpressed in tumor cells, are targets of choice for cancer immunotherapy [1]. About half of the known CT antigens are encoded by genes located in the X chromosome (CT-X) and include some frequently expressed gene families, such as melanoma-associated antigen-A (MAGE-A), encoding a group of conserved proteins. The frequency of expression of CT antigens, including MAGE-A, however, is highly variable in tumors of different histological types, with high frequencies reported for some of them (e.g. melanoma, ovarian cancer, lung cancer) but not for others (e.g. colon cancer, prostate cancer).