Expression Of Three Cancer Testis Antigen Genes In Meningioma

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the potential of three cancer testis antigens (CTA) as vaccines for human meningioma.METHODS: Forty one specimens of human meningioma and twenty nine specimens of human normal tissues were analyzed for the expression of three CTA genes (SCP-1, NY-SAR-35 and OY-TES-1) by Reverse Transcriptase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Correlation between the expression of CTA genes and clinical data was evaluated.RESULTS: All of meningiomas and normal tissues were negative for SCP-1. The expressive frequency of NY-SAR-35 in normal and meningioma tissues was 13.79% (4/29) and 36.59% (15/41), respectively. There was significant difference for the expressive frequency of NY-SAR-35 in both normal and meningioma tissues (p<0. 05). Of 14 specimens of normal tissues from different organs, 3 expressed NY-SAR-35. As to OY-TES-1, the expressive frequency in normal and meningioma tissues was 68.97% (20/29) and 39.02% (16/41), respectively. Significant difference for the expressive frequency of OY-TES-1 in both normal and meningioma tissues has been showed (p<0. 05). Of 14 specimens of normal tissues from different organs, 12 were positive in OY-TES-1. There was no statistic significance for the expression of NY-SAR-35 and OY-TES-1 correlated with patients' age, sex, histological subtype and clinical pathological grade of meningioma (p>0. 05).CONCLUSION: With higher expressive frequency in meningioma tissues, NY-SAR-35 might be a potential promising target for immunotherapy of meningioma. The fact of broad expression of OY-TES-1 in seriesof normal tissues has been considered, and whether OY-TES-1 was a true cancer testis antigen or not has to be further determined.