Identification of cancer testis antigens as a prognostic marker for testicular tumor

我们证明，癌症睾丸抗原（CTA）之一，精子相关抗原4（SPAG 4），是高度上调的癌标本中的肾细胞癌（RCC）患者与相邻的正常肾组织相比。在肾癌细胞中，通过HIF稳定剂DFO的处理诱导SPAG 4，并且这种诱导通过HIF 1 α的敲低而被阻断。最后，SPAG4 mRNA表达与肿瘤分级和分期呈负相关，SPAG4 mRNA表达降低与RCC患者无进展时间缩短显著相关。这些结果表明，SPAG4是HIF调节的CTA，可能是RCC的潜在预后候选者。进一步的研究正在进行中，以评估SPAG 4作为睾丸肿瘤预后标志物的潜力。

We demonstrated that one of cancer testis antigens (CTAs), sperm associated antigen 4 (SPAG4), was highly up-regulated in cancer specimens from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients compared with adjacent normal renal tissues. In renal cancer cells, SPAG4 was induced by the treatment of HIF stabilizing agent, DFO, and this induction was blocked by the knockdown of HIF1 alpha. Finally, SPAG4 mRNA expression was inversely correlated with tumor grade and stage, and lower expression of SPAG4 mRNA was significantly associated with shorter progression-free time in patients with RCC. These results suggest that SPAG4 is HIF-regulated CTAs and may be a potential prognostic candidate for RCC. Further study is ongoing to evaluate the potential of SPAG4 as a prognostic marker for testicular tumor.