PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Otte, Marcus
AU  - Zafrakas, Menelaos
AU  - Riethdorf, Lutz
AU  - Pichlmeier, Uwe
AU  - Löning, Thomas
AU  - Jänicke, Fritz
AU  - Pantel, Klaus
TI  - <strong><em>MAGE-A</em></strong> Gene Expression Pattern in Primary Breast Cancer
DP  - 2001 Sep 15
TA  - Cancer Research
PG  - 6682--6687
VI  - 61
IP  - 18
4099  - http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/61/18/6682.short
4100  - http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/61/18/6682.full
SO  - Cancer Res2001 Sep 15; 61
AB  - Melanoma antigen (MAGE)-A-derived peptides elicit a strong in vitro T-cell response against tumor cells. For determination of MAGE-A1, -2, -3, -4, -6, and -12 expression profile in invasive breast cancer, we developed a multiplex seminested reverse transcription-PCR-method. In total, 18 of 67 (27%) tumors were positive for at least one of these MAGE transcripts, and the expression pattern was heterogeneous: MAGE-A1 was positive in 4 of 67 (6%), MAGE-A2 in 13 of 67 (19%), MAGE-A3 in 7 of 67 (10%), MAGE-A4 in 9 of 67 (13%), MAGE-A6 in 10 of 67 (15%), and MAGE-A12 in 6 of 67 (9%) patients. The MAGE-A transcripts were more frequently expressed in ductal breast carcinomas compared with other histomorphological types. We observed a preferential expression of MAGE-A in patients at a higher risk of recurrence: those harboring tumors with high levels of the protease urokinase-type plasminogen activator and its inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, high score of the Ki-67 proliferation antigen, and lesser degree of differentiation. Our findings suggests a potential involvement of MAGE-A in tumor progression, with potential implications for active immunotherapy. ©2001 American Association for Cancer Research.