Cancer-Testis Antigen

Cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) are a family of proteins with highly restricted expression in normal adult tissues, being found almost exclusively in the testis (and to a lesser extent, placenta and ovary), but aberrantly expressed in a wide variety of human cancers. Their unique expression profile—absent from most normal somatic tissues but present in many tumors—makes them attractive targets for cancer immunotherapy. Most CTAs have undefined or poorly understood biological functions. However, some are implicated in key cellular processes such as signaling, transcription regulation, translation, and chromosomal recombination. The primary mechanism controlling CTA gene expression is epigenetic regulation—especially DNA methylation. Hypomethylation of promoter regions leads to activation of these genes in cancers; pharmacologic agents that alter methylation status can modulate CTA expression profiles on neoplastic cells. Ongoing clinical development includes vaccine strategies as well as engineered T-cell approaches.

Immunomodulation; induction of anti-tumor immunity