Differential expression of cancer testis genes in histological subtypes of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the potentialof cancer testis (CT) antigens as vaccines for non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Ninety-three specimens of NHLs were analyzed for their composite expression of eight CT genes (MAGE-3, MAGE-4, CT-7, HOM-MEL-40/SSX-2, SSX-1, SSX-4, HOM-TES-14/SCP-1, and HOM-TES-85). Thirty-nine of these specimens were also analyzed for their NY-ESO-1 expression. RESULTS Only 1 of 7 cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia expressed a CT gene (HOM-TES-14/SCP-1), and 10 follicular lymphomas were negative for all of the CT genes tested. In B-cell lymphomas, the most frequent expression of CT genes was observed in diffuse large-cell lymphomas (HOM-TES-14/SCP-1: 7 of 28; SSX-1: 5 of 28; CT-7: 2 of 28; and HOM-MEL-40/SSX-2 and HOM-TES-85: 1 of 28 positive cases). Only 1 of 8 Burkitt's and 1 of 7 lymphoblastic lymphomas expressed a CT gene (CT7 and HOM-TES-14/SCP-1, respectively). A majority (9 of 15) of T- NHLs (9 peripheral T-cell lymphomas, 2 lymphoblastic T-cell lymphomas, and 4 cases of AILD) expressed HOM-TES-14/SCP-1. CONCLUSIONS HOM-TES-14/SCP-1, and to some degree SSX-1 and CT-7 might be candidates for lymphoma vaccine development. However, the identification of additional tumor-specific antigens with a frequent expression in lymphomas is warranted to allow for the development of widely applicable polyvalent lymphoma vaccines.