Is there any relationship between gene expression of tumor antigens and CD4+ T cells in multiple myeloma?

AIM: The present study aimed at correlating the expression of cancer/testis antigens (CTAs) with the expression of genes related to tumor-infiltrating T cells.

MATERIALS & METHODS: MAGE-C1/CT-7, MAGEA3/6, NY-ESO-1, LAGE-1 and GAGE expression were evaluated in 46 bone marrow multiple myeloma (MM) aspirates by RT-PCR. Expression of FOXP3/CTLA4 and RORyt, as markers for Tregs and Th17 cells, respectively, was investigated by quantitative PCR.

RESULTS: MAGEC1/CT7 was expressed in 66% of MM samples. We did not find correlation between the presence of single CTA and expression of CTLA4 or RORyt neither expression of CD4(+) T-cell markers and the number of CTA simultaneously expressed in the tumor. However, we did observe a correlation between the percentage of plasma cells and the number of CTAs expressed in the patients' bone marrow.

CONCLUSION: Although CTAs and immunomodulatory CD4(+) T cells represent potential targets for immunotherapy in MM, we did not find association among expression of such genes in MM.