Abstract
Kita-Kyushu lung cancer antigen-1 (KK-LC-1) is a cancer/testis antigen (CTA) and predominant target for cancer immunotherapy. Our previous study indicated that KK-LC-1 was expressed in 82% of gastric cancers, and also in 79% of early stage of gastric cancers, with a correlation to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. In addition, we found that KK-LC-1 was occasionally expressed at non-tumour sites of stomachs carrying tumours. Here, we investigated the characteristics of KK-LC-1 expression at non-tumour sites and the clinical utility of these phenomena. The gene expression of KK-LC-1 was detected at the non-tumour sites including pyloric glands. The most detectable corpus/gland subset had a KK-LC-1 expression rate of 77% in the pyloric gland of the lower corpus where H. pylori preferentially exists. KK-LC-1 expression rates were 67% or 32% with or without intestinal metaplasia, which also induced by H. pylori, respectively. Consequently, KK-LC-1 would be detected at the pre-cancerous condition of the stomach, and may be a useful marker to predict gastric cancer.
Highlights
Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide after lung and liver cancers[1]
Kita-Kyushu lung cancer antigen-1 (KK-LC-1) maps to chromosome Xq22, it is not expressed in normal tissues except for the testis, but is expressed in 33% of non-small cell lung cancers[8,9]
We examined 24 specimens in which cancer/testis antigen (CTA) expression was detected at the tumour site and a non-tumour site (Fig. 1a)
Summary
Gastric cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide after lung and liver cancers[1]. ABC diagnosis employing an anti-H. pylori antibody and measuring the serum level of pepsinogen I/II is an approach for risk diagnosis of gastric cancer[3]. Immune targeting of these antigens is thought to have negligible adverse side effects They may be advantageous molecules for systemic diagnosis of cancer because of their specific expression patterns. KK-LC-1 is frequently expressed in 82% and 75% of gastric cancer and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients[10,11] We previously reported that H. pylori infection induces expression of specific CTAs in addition to causing malignant transformation of host cells[12]. KK-LC-1 expression correlates with H. pylori infection[13] These results suggest that specific CTA expression may correlate with the initial cancer-causing event. CTAs could be new candidates for immunotherapy to predict and diagnose gastric cancer
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