Abstract: |
Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is an intractable hematologic malignancy caused by human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), which infects approximately 20 million people worldwide. Here, we have explored the possible expression of cancer/testis (CT) antigens by ATLL cells, as CT antigens are widely recognized as ideal targets of cancer immunotherapy against solid tumors. A high percentage (87.7%) of ATLL cases (n = 57) expressed CT antigens at the mRNA level: NY-ESO-1 (61.4%), MAGE-A3 (31.6%), and MAGE-A4 (61.4%). CT antigen expression was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. This contrasts with other types of lymphoma or leukemia, which scarcely express these CT antigens. Humoral immune responses, particularly against NY-ESO-1, were detected in 11.6% (5 of 43) and NY-ESO-1-specific CD8 + T-cell responses were observed in 55.6% (5 of 9) of ATLL patients. NY-ESO-1-specific CD8 +T cells recognized autologous ATLL cells and produced effector cytokines. Thus, ATLL cells characteristically express CT antigens and therefore vaccination with CT antigens can be an effective immunotherapy of ATLL. © 2012 by The American Society of Hematology. |
Keywords: |
immunohistochemistry; adult; middle aged; drug targeting; antigen expression; cd8+ t lymphocyte; cancer immunotherapy; reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; neoplasm proteins; cell line; membrane proteins; in vitro study; tumor antigen; gene expression regulation, neoplastic; cellular immunity; immunotherapy; antigens; antigens, neoplasm; blood sampling; cancer testis antigen; melanoma antigen 3; ny eso 1 antigen; antigen detection; cancer immunization; lymphoma; autoantigen; cytokine production; humoral immunity; t cell leukemia; testis; leukemia-lymphoma, adult t-cell; gene expression regulation, leukemic; melanoma antigen 4; immunity, humoral; molecular targeted therapy
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