NY-ESO-1 may be a potential target for lung cancer immunotherapy

PURPOSE To evaluate the frequency of NY-ESO-1 expression in cultured lung cancer ce lls and to determine if this cancer-testis antigen can be presented for rec ognition by an HLA-restricted cytolytic T-cell clone specific for NY-ESO-1. METHODS AND RESULTS Reverse transcriptase and polymerase chain reaction amplification technique s were utilized to screen a panel of lung and esophageal cancer cell lines for expression of NY-ESO-1 encoding a recently identified cancer-testis ant igen. NY-ESO-1 expression was detected in 11 of 16 small cell lung cancer l ines, three of seven non-small cell lung cancer lines, and zero of 12 esoph ageal cancer lines. 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine induced expression of NY-ESO-1 i n lung cancer cells. Expression of HLA-A31 by plasmid transfection or retro viral transduction enabled recognition of lung cancer cells by an HLA-A31-r estricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte clone specific for NY-ESO-1. CONCLUSIONS NY-ESO-1 expression may be analagous to MAGE gene expression in lung cancer lines in terms of frequency and mechanism of transcriptional regulation. F urthermore, NY-ESO-1 can be presented on lung cancer cells for recognition by HLA-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Further investigation is warrant ed to determine if NY-ESO-1 can be exploited for the immunotherapy for lung cancer.