Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck (ACC) is a rare but highly malignant tumor. Cancer testis antigens (CTA) represent an immunogenic family of cancer-specific proteins and thus represent an attractive target for immunotherapy.
Eighty-four cases of ACC were identified, the CTAs pan-MAGE (M3H67) and NY-ESO-1 (E978) were detected immunohistochemically and correlated with clinical data.
Expression of NY-ESO-1 was found in 48/84 (57.1%) and of pan-MAGE in 28/84 (31.2%). Median OS in NY-ESO-1 positive vs. negative patients was 130.8 and 282.0 months (p=0.223), respectively. OS in pan-MAGE positive vs. negative patients was 105.3 and 190.5 months, respectively (p=0.096). Patients expressing both, NY-ESO-1 and pan-MAGE simultaneously had significantly reduced OS with a median of 90.5 months compared to 282.0 months in negative patients (p=0.047).