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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Dec 15, 2015; 7(12): 492-502
Published online Dec 15, 2015. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v7.i12.492
Targeting cancer testis antigens for biomarkers and immunotherapy in colorectal cancer: Current status and challenges
Anil Suri, Nirmala Jagadish, Shikha Saini, Namita Gupta
Anil Suri, Nirmala Jagadish, Shikha Saini, Namita Gupta, Cancer Microarray, Genes and Proteins Laboratory, National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India
Author contributions: All the authors solely contributed to this Review.
Supported by Indo-UK Cancer Research Program, No. BT/IN/UK/NII/2006; Centre for Molecular Medicine, No. BT/PR/14549/MED/14/1291; and NII-core funding, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Anil Suri, FNASc, FAMS, Cancer Microarray, Genes and Proteins Laboratory, National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India. anil@nii.res.in
Telephone: +91-11-26703700 Fax: +91-11-26742125
Received: June 15, 2015
Peer-review started: June 17, 2015
First decision: July 27, 2015
Revised: September 21, 2015
Accepted: October 20, 2015
Article in press: October 27, 2015
Published online: December 15, 2015
Processing time: 182 Days and 0.6 Hours
Abstract

Colorectal cancer ranks third among the estimated cancer cases and cancer related mortalities in United States in 2014. Early detection and efficient therapy remains a significant clinical challenge for this disease. Therefore, there is a need to identify novel tumor associated molecules to target for biomarker development and immunotherapy. In this regard, cancer testis antigens have emerged as a potential targets for developing novel clinical biomarkers and immunotherapy for various malignancies. These germ cell specific proteins exhibit aberrant expression in cancer cells and contribute in tumorigenesis. Owing to their unique expression profile and immunogenicity in cancer patients, cancer testis antigens are clinically referred as the most promising tumor associated antigens. Several cancer testis antigens have been studied in colorectal cancer but none of them could be used in clinical practice. This review is an attempt to address the promising cancer testis antigens in colorectal cancer and their possible clinical implications as biomarkers and immunotherapeutic targets with particular focus on challenges and future interventions.

Keywords: Cancer testis antigens; Colorectal cancer; Testis specific genes; Biomarkers; Immunotherapy

Core tip: Despite of the availability of enormous tumor antigens, there is a dearth of targets for biomarkers and immunotherapy for clinical cancer management. Cost-effectiveness and invasiveness associated with colonoscopy hinders its implications in less developed and developing countries. Colorectal cancer treatment including surgery and radiation has significant side effects on normal tissues. Recently a new category of antigens has been discovered which are expressed in tumor cells but not in normal tissues except the immuno-privileged testis. Targeting such antigens would be specific to the cancer cells with no deleterious effects on normal cells. Scope of these magic bullets in colorectal cancer is discussed in this review.