Expression of Melanoma Antigen Gene (MAGE) and Synovial Sarcoma on X chromosome (SSX) in Ovarian Tumors

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Several cancer-testis antigen genes or gene families have been isolated to date, including Melanoma Antigen Gene (MAGE) and Synovial Sarcoma on X chromosome (SSX). This study attempted to investigate the possibility of immunotherapy for ovarian cancer and to explore the prevalence of the expression of MAGE and SSX. METHODS: The fresh tissue samples were obtained from 5 cases of normal ovaries, 6 cases of non-neoplastic disease, 21 cases of benign ovarian tumors, and 12 cases of malignant ovarian tumors. The expression of MAGE A1-6 and SSX 1-9 was detected by nested reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction using each common primers sets for MAGE A1-6 and SSX 1-9. RESULTS: The expression rate of MAGE 1-6 mRNA was 23.0% (5/21) for the benign ovarian tumors and 91.7% (11/12) for the malignant ovarian tumor, whereas the normal ovaries (0/5) and non-neoplastic ovarian tissues (0/6) did not express MAGE (p0.05). A relationship between the two genes was not observed (kappa coefficient=0.32). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the gene products of MAGE and SSX can be useful for the immunotherapy of ovarian cancer patients and that MAGE can be a more promising target than SSX from the viewpoint of applicability and cancer-specificity.