Expression of cancer/testis antigens MAGE-A, MAGE-C1, GAGE and CTAG1B in benign and malignant thyroid diseases

Despite considerable advances in the understanding of thyroid gland biology, correctly diagnosing thyroid nodules and treating high-grade thyroid carcinoma remains challenging. Cancer/testis (CT) antigens have emerged as potential diagnostic tools as well as targets of potential cancer vaccinations....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oncology letters 2017-12, Vol.14 (6), p.6485-6496
Main Authors: Melo, Daniel Hardy, Mamede, Rui Celso Martins, Neder, Luciano, Silva, Wilson Araújo, Barros-Filho, Mateus Camargo, Kowalski, Luiz Paulo, Pinto, Clóvis Antonio Lopes, Zago, Marco Antônio, Figueiredo, David Livingstone Alves, Jungbluth, Achim A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antigens
Apoptosis
biological tumor markers
Cancer
Care and treatment
Development and progression
Disease
Gene expression
Genetic aspects
Health aspects
Immunoglobulins
immunohistochemistry
Lymphatic system
Medical prognosis
Melanoma
Metastasis
Oncology
Otolaryngology
Patients
Studies
Thyroid cancer
Thyroid gland
thyroid neoplasms
thyroid nodule
Tumor antigens
Tumors
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Summary:Despite considerable advances in the understanding of thyroid gland biology, correctly diagnosing thyroid nodules and treating high-grade thyroid carcinoma remains challenging. Cancer/testis (CT) antigens have emerged as potential diagnostic tools as well as targets of potential cancer vaccinations. In the present study, a total of 117 patients who underwent surgical therapy for thyroid disease were available for analysis. The expression levels of melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE) A, MAGE-C1/CT7, cancer/testis antigen 1B (CTAG1B) and G antigen (GAGE) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. None of the CT antigens were expressed in the normal thyroid or goiter. In papillary and follicular carcinoma, MAGE-A was present in 8.1% of cases, GAGE in 10.8% and CT/7MAGE-C1 and CTAG1B in 2.7% each. In medullary carcinoma, CT antigen expression was as follows: MAGE-A in 42.9% of patients; MAGE-C1/CT7 in 46.5%; GAGE in 92.9%; and CTAG1B in 3.6%. A statistically significant association was observed between the expression of G MAGE-C1/CT7 and patient gender as well as patient clinical stage (P=0.029 and 0.031, respectively). In poorly differentiated and anaplastic carcinoma cases, CT antigen expression was as follows: MAGE-A in 61.8% of cases; MAGE-C1 in 57.1%; GAGE in 66.7%; and CTAG1B in 14.4%. There was a statistically significant association between expression of GAGE and gender (P=0.043). However, there was no association between CT antigen expression and patient survival in any of the tumor entities analyzed. The current study identified a distinct expression pattern of CT antigens in malignant thyroid tumors indicating that CT antigens have the potential to outperform existing thyroid cancer biomarkers. The prevalence of CT antigens in high-grade carcinomas suggests that they serve an important biological role within malignant tumors.
ISSN:1792-1074
1792-1082
DOI:10.3892/ol.2017.7072