Tuberc Respir Dis.  2011 Apr;70(4):315-322.

Expression of MAGE A 1-6 and SSX 1-9 Genes in the Sputum and Cancer Tissue of the Lung Cancer Patients

• Lee YJ
• Lee JH
• Lee JC
• Lee KH

Abstract

BACKGROUND
A variety of diagnostic modalities for lung cancer have been developed. To achieve efficient and early detection of lung cancer, we tried to measure the expression rates of the melanoma associated gene (MAGE) and synovial sarcoma on X chromosome (SSX) genes.
METHODS
We designed primers for the SSX gene. In addition to the pre-developed MAGE A primer, using an SSX gene primer was attempted to increase the detection rate. We obtained cancer tissues and cancer-free lung tissues from resected lung, sputum from lung cancer patients who had not undergone surgery, and sputum from healthy people and patients with benign intrathoracic diseases.
RESULTS
The sensitivity of the MAGE or SSX gene RT-PCR to identifying cancer tissue of the 69 lung cancer patients was 95.2% for squamous cell carcinoma (scc), 87.0% for adenocarcinoma, and 100% for small cell carcinoma. The mean sensitivity value was 94.2% (p=0.001). For adenocarcinoma, the additional use of the SSX gene resulted in a higher expression rate than MAGE alone (87% vs. 69.6%). The expression rate for the cancer-free lung tissue was 14.3% in scc, 17.4% in adenocarcinoma, and 25.0% in small cell carcinoma. In the induced sputum of 49 lung cancer patients who had not undergone surgery, the expression rate for one of the two genes was 65.5%. The expression rate for the sputum of healthy people and benign intrathoracic diseases by MAGE or SSX gene reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was 3.8% and 17.7%.
CONCLUSION
Detecting lung cancer using the expression of MAGE and SSX genes in lung cancer tissue has high sensitivity.

Keyword

Lung Neoplasms; Genes

MeSH Terms

Adenocarcinoma
Carcinoma, Small Cell
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell
Humans
Lung
Lung Neoplasms
Melanoma
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Reverse Transcription
Sarcoma, Synovial
Sputum
X Chromosome

Figure

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  Figure 1 Electrophoresis of MAGE (A), SSX gene (B) and GAPD (C) RT-PCR products in ten sputa of lung cancer patients. MAGE: melanoma associated gene; SSX: synovial sarcoma on X chromosome; GAPD: glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase; RT-PCR: reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; SM: size markers.

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