Cancer/Testis Antigens: Expression, Regulation, Tumor Invasion, and Use in Immunotherapy of Cancers.

Cancer/Testis Antigens: Expression, Regulation, Tumor Invasion, and Use in Immunotherapy of Cancers. Immunol Invest. 2016 Sep 7;:1-22 Authors: Salmaninejad A, Zamani MR, Pourvahedi M, Golchehre Z, Bereshneh AH, Rezaei N Abstract Cancer/testis antigens (CTAs) are named based on their expression pattern that is restricted in a number of normal and abnormal tissues. Tumor cells frequently express antigens whose expression is typically restricted to germ cells. Their unique expression pattern is guaranteed by precise epigenetic regulatory mechanisms. Because of their tumor-limited, high immunogenicity, and biased expression, discovery of these molecules provides unprecedented opportunities for further research and clinical development in the field of cancer diagnosis and immunotherapy. Evolving evidence reveals that a number of CTAs stimulate epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and generation of cancer stem-like cells, intensifying metastasis, invasion, and tumorigenesis. Based on these features, CTAs attract attention to be considered as ideal targets for developing several clinical trials, many of them concentrating on CTA vaccine therapy. According to recent practical clinical interest, more characterizations of CTA regulation are identified. CTA expression has been demonstrated in a variety of human cancer tissues, and some of them have been found to elicit humoral and/or cellular immune responses in cancer patients. CTAs are bri...
Source: Immunological Investigations - Category: Allergy & Immunology Tags: Immunol Invest Source Type: research