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Expression of MAGE‐A3 in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and its precursor lesions
Author(s) -
Tsuneyama Koichi,
Sasaki Motoko,
Shimonishi Tomonori,
Nakanuma Yasuni
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
pathology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1827
pISSN - 1320-5463
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1827.2003.01605.x
Subject(s) - intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma , dysplasia , pathology , immunohistochemistry , antigen , messenger rna , carcinoma in situ , in situ hybridization , carcinoma , biology , medicine , cancer research , gene , immunology , biochemistry
MAGE‐A3 antigen is known to be neo‐expressed in a large proportion of tumors but not detectable in normal tissues, and could be a target antigen recognized by autologous cytotoxic T lymphocytes. In the present study, the expression of MAGE‐A3 at protein and mRNA levels was examined in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and its precursor lesions. Carcinomatous and dysplastic biliary cells expressed MAGE‐A3 in their cytoplasm diffusely, although there was no MAGE‐A3 expression in normal and hyperplastic biliary cells. MAGE‐A3 was expressed in one of 10 cases (10%) of low‐grade dysplasia, four of 13 (31%) cases of high‐grade dysplasia/ in situ carcinoma, and 32 of 68 invasive ICC cases (47%), respectively. The MAGE‐A3 mRNA expression pattern was similar to that of MAGE‐A3 protein. The incidence and intensity of MAGE‐A3 expression increased along the progression of biliary neoplasia ( P < 0.05). There was no correlation between MAGE‐3 expression and histological differentiation or anatomical locations of invasive ICC. MAGE‐A3 is a promising target molecule for the specific immunotherapy of ICC.