Expression, epigenetic regulation, and humoral immunogenicity of cancer-testis antigens in chronic myeloid leukemia.

Objective: Cancer-testis (CT) antigens represent attractive targets for tumor immunotherapy based on their tumor-restricted expression and immunogenicity. However, a broad picture of the expression of CT antigens and associated humoral immune responses in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is still missing.

Methods: We screened CML cell lines and bone marrow (BM) samples from healthy donors by RT-PCR for the expression of 31 CT antigens before and after treatment with epigenetic agents.