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Prognostic relevance of MAGE‐A4 tumor antigen expression in transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder: A tissue microarray study
Author(s) -
Kocher Thomas,
Zheng Min,
Bolli Martin,
Simon Ronald,
Forster Thomas,
SchultzThater Elke,
Remmel Eugenia,
Noppen Christoph,
Schmid Ulrico,
Ackermann Daniel,
Mihatsch Michael J.,
Gasser Thomas,
Heberer Michael,
Sauter Guido,
Spagnoli Giulio C.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.10540
Subject(s) - immunostaining , medicine , tissue microarray , immunohistochemistry , immunotherapy , bladder cancer , antigen , transitional cell carcinoma , clinical significance , urinary bladder , pathology , carcinoma , urinary system , oncology , cancer , cancer research , immunology
TAAs of the MAGE family are mostly studied as targets of specific immune responses. Their potential relevance as tumor markers has also been underlined. We used a MAb, 57B, recognizing MAGE‐A4 protein in paraffin‐embedded sections, to evaluate its expression in bladder cancers by employing TMA including 2,317 samples from 1,849 patients. In 2,090/2,317 cases (90.2%), immunostaining yielded interpretable results. Since for some patients more than 1 sample was available, only interpretable first biopsies ( n = 1,628) were considered. MAGE‐A4 protein was expressed at significantly ( p < 0.001) higher frequency in squamous (25/55, 45.5%) than in adeno (4/15, 26.7%), sarcomatoid (4/14, 28.6%), small cell (5/20, 25%) or transitional cell (281/1,522, 18.5%) carcinomas. In TCCs, overall MAGE‐A4 positivity was significantly correlated with invasive phenotype ( p < 0.001) and high tumor grade ( p < 0.0001). Clinical data from 908 TCC patients were retrospectively evaluated, revealing that strong 57B staining was highly significantly associated with decreased tumor‐specific survival ( p < 0.0001). These data suggest that evaluation of MAGE‐A4 protein expression is useful in the identification of groups of TCCs characterized by severe prognosis, thus possibly providing indications for early MAGE TAA‐targeted immunotherapy. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.