Importance of Tumor Antigens
Tumor antigens, because of their relative abundance in tumor cells are useful in identifying specific tumor cells. Certain tumors have certain tumor antigens in abundance.
| Tumor antigen | Tumor in which it is found | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Alphafetoprotein (AFP) | Germ cell tumors
Hepatocellular carcinoma |
|
| Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) | bowel cancers | Occasional lung or breast cancer |
| CA-125 | Ovarian cancer | |
| MUC-1 | breast cancer | |
| Epithelial tumor antigen (ETA) | Breast cancer | |
| Tyrosinase | Malignant melanoma | normally present in minute quantities; greatly elevated levels in melanoma |
| Melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE) | malignant melanoma | Also normally present in the testis |
| abnormal products of ras, p53 | Various tumors |
Certain tumor antigens are thus used as tumor markers. More importantly, tumor antigens can be used in cancer therapy as tumor antigen vaccines.
Read more about this topic: Tumor Antigen
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