Ries Jutta, Vairaktaris Eleftherios, Mollaoglu Nur, Wiltfang Joerg, Neukam Friedrich W, Nkenke Emeka
Department of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen/Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
J Oral Pathol Med. 2008 Feb;37(2):88-93. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0714.2007.00600.x.
Melanoma-associated antigens-A (MAGE-A) are expressed in a variety of tumors but not in normal tissues. Thus, their detection is highly specific to cancer cells, which makes them potential targets for the diagnosis, prognosis and also immunotherapy of neoplastic diseases.
To determine the expression pattern and potential role of MAGE-A antigens in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), expression patterns of MAGE-A1-A6 and A12 were analyzed in 55 OSCC and 20 healthy oral mucosa using high-sensitive reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nPCR).
The 85.45% of tumor specimens expressed at least one of these genes. A significant correlation between the expression of MAGE-A1-A6 and A12 and malignancy was ascertained (P = 0.0001). On the contrary, none of the normal mucosal specimens expressed one of the MAGE-A subtypes. Antigen expression did not correlate with clinicopathological parameters, such as TNM classification, grading and clinical stage of OSCC.
Multiple simultaneous detection of MAGE-A1-A6 and A12 expression has been found to be more specific and sensitive than the detection of single MAGE-A antigen for the diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of OSCC. In addition, monitoring the expression of several MAGE-A subtypes may determine suitable immunotherapeutic targets. Subsequently, coexpressed genes may be warranted for developing polyvalent vaccines.
黑色素瘤相关抗原-A（MAGE-A）在多种肿瘤中表达，但在正常组织中不表达。因此，它们的检测对癌细胞具有高度特异性，这使其成为肿瘤疾病诊断、预后评估以及免疫治疗的潜在靶点。
为确定MAGE-A抗原在口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）中的表达模式及潜在作用，采用高灵敏度逆转录巢式聚合酶链反应（RT-nPCR）分析了55例OSCC和20例健康口腔黏膜中MAGE-A1-A6及A12的表达模式。
85.45%的肿瘤标本表达了这些基因中的至少一种。确定MAGE-A1-A6及A12的表达与恶性程度之间存在显著相关性（P = 0.0001）。相反，正常黏膜标本均未表达MAGE-A亚型中的任何一种。抗原表达与OSCC的临床病理参数，如TNM分类、分级及临床分期均无相关性。
已发现同时检测MAGE-A1-A6及A12的表达比检测单一MAGE-A抗原对OSCC的诊断和预后评估更具特异性和敏感性。此外，监测几种MAGE-A亚型的表达可能确定合适的免疫治疗靶点。随后，共表达基因可能适用于开发多价疫苗。
