MacLean G D, Longenecker B M
Department of Medical Oncology, Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Semin Cancer Biol. 1991 Dec;2(6):433-9.
What is the clinical significance of the expression by common human carcinomas of the Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF) antigen? Described as a terminal disaccharide which is a precursor of MN blood group antigens, it was discovered as a laboratory curiosity 60 years ago, yet its cancer-association has only been appreciated in the last two decades. It is cryptic in the membrane of various normal cells, but can be found overtly expressed early during malignant transformation. It thus has potential as a target antigen for monoclonal antibodies for the detection of cancers, both in vitro and in vivo. Several studies have described its expression in relation to tumor grade, metastasis and likelihood of relapse or tumor aggression, and attempts have been made to define its prognostic significance, but generalization is difficult because of differing trends in expression on different types of cancers. TF is immunogenic, and perhaps even immunomodulatory in patients with cancer. We have used natural and synthetic TF and related antigens to study this immunomodulation in an animal model. Natural TF can be either immunogenic or immunosuppressive. In an appropriate formulation synthetic TF can be used in an 'immunotherapeutic vaccine' to significantly prolong the lives of animals which have an otherwise lethal mammary cancer. We are now testing similar immunotherapeutic vaccines in humans with cancer, and have induced an immune response to synthetic TF, the same serum also reacting with cancer cells known to express TF. The clinical significance of TF may be the immune response it induces, either tolerizing a patient to a cancer or stimulating an effector response to a cancer.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
常见人类癌症中汤姆森 - 弗里德赖希（TF）抗原的表达有何临床意义？TF抗原被描述为一种末端二糖，是MN血型抗原的前体，60年前作为实验室的一个新奇发现被发现，但其与癌症的关联直到最近二十年才受到重视。它在各种正常细胞的膜中是隐蔽的，但在恶性转化早期可被发现明显表达。因此，它有潜力作为单克隆抗体的靶抗原，用于体外和体内癌症检测。多项研究描述了其表达与肿瘤分级、转移以及复发或肿瘤侵袭可能性的关系，并尝试确定其预后意义，但由于不同类型癌症的表达趋势不同，难以进行概括。TF具有免疫原性，甚至可能对癌症患者具有免疫调节作用。我们使用天然和合成的TF及相关抗原来在动物模型中研究这种免疫调节。天然TF既可以是免疫原性的，也可以是免疫抑制性的。以适当的配方，合成TF可用于“免疫治疗疫苗”，显著延长患有致命性乳腺癌的动物的寿命。我们现在正在癌症患者中测试类似的免疫治疗疫苗，并已诱导出对合成TF的免疫反应，同一血清也与已知表达TF的癌细胞发生反应。TF的临床意义可能在于它诱导的免疫反应，要么使患者对癌症产生耐受，要么刺激对癌症的效应反应。（摘要截选至250词）
