Cancer/testis antigens are a family of more than 100 proteins whose normal expression is largely restricted to immune privileged germ cells of the testis, ovary, and trophoblast cells of the placenta. Although most normal somatic tissues are void of CTA expression, due to epigenetic silencing of gene expression, their expression is upregulated in a wide variety of human solid and liquid tumors. As such, CTAs have garnered much attention as attractive targets for a variety of immunotherapy-based approaches to selectively attack tumors.PRAME is a cancer/testis antigen not normally expressed in any tissues except testis, but is upregulated in tumors. PRAME is expressed in melanoma cells and is recognized by cytolytic T-cells. It is also upregulated in other diseases, such as synovial sarcoma, NSCLC, and breast cancer, where it is thought to contribute to tumorigenesis and metastasis. PRAME is also highly expressed in liquid tumors such as AML and can be predictive of clinical outcome in some circumstances. PRAME and other cancer/testis antigens are currently being pursued as novel immunotherapy targets and diagnostic biomarkers.
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