Abstract
Background Embryo-Cancer Sequence A (ECSA)/Developmental Pluripotency Associated-2 (DPPA2), is an embryonic gene coded on chromosome 3 initially isolated from pluripotent human pre-implantation embryos and also expressed in several cancers. Methods 80 gynaecological cancers and 50 normal tissues were examined for ECSA/DPPA-2 expression by immunohistochemistry. Expression of the X-chromosome cancer-testis antigens (CTA) NY-ESO1, MAGE-A1, MAGE-A3, MAGE-A4 and MAGE-C1 was examined in parallel. Results 30% of ovarian epithelial tumours and 34% of endometrial tumours expressed ECSA/DPPA-2. All positive tumours were high grade (grade III serous and clear cell) ( p = 14;0.002). CTA expression was present in 62% of high grade tumours and 100% of ECSA/DPPA-2 positive tumours ( p = 14;0.003). ECSA/DPPA-2 was not expressed in normal tissues. Discussion These findings show expression of ECSA/DPPA-2 in high grade ovarian and endometrial carcinomas, and may be a potential target for future therapies with restricted expression in normal tissues. Furthermore, there is concomitant expression of ECSA/DPPA-2 and CTAs which have an emerging role in the immunotherapy of cancer. While this may suggest a link between the expression of these molecules, ongoing research will determine if ECSA/DPPA-2 is involved in regulation of CTA expression which may have important implications in immunotherapy of cancer.
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