Expression Of Cancer/Testis Antigens SSX Family In Human Retinoblastoma

AIM:To investigate the expression of cancer-testis(CT) antigens SSX1-5 mRNA in retinoblastoma(RB) and the possibility of applying these antigens as targets for specific immunotherapy for RB.METHOD:Expression levels of CT antigens SSX1-5 mRNA were detected with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) in 18 RB tissues,19 non-tumor retinal tissues and 19 normal eye tissues. Correlation between the expression of CT antigens SSX1-5 and clinical data was evaluated.Genes of positive PCR results were sequenced randomly.RESULT:Of 18 RB tissues,SSX1,SSX2and SSX4 mRNA were expressed in 33.3%(6/18),5.6%(1/18) and 22.2%(4/18), respectively.About 50.0%(9/18),11.1%(2/18) of RB tissues positively expressed at least one and two members of SSX1-5,respectively.In addition,non samples of non-tumor retinal tissues and normal eye tissues expressed SSX1-5.No relationship was found between the expression of CT antigens and clinical indicators such as age,gender,tumor size, differentiation and clinical stage(P＞0.05).DNA sequencing confirmed that the RT-PCR products were true target cDNA.CONCLUSION:CT antigens SSX1-5 are expressed with different percentage in RB,but with high specificity,so they are possibly promising targets for antigen-specific immunotherapy of RB.