NY-ESO-1/LAGE-1 Background Information NY-ESO-1 (also known as autoimmunogenic cancer/testis antigen) is a tumor-specific shared antigen with distinctive immunogenicity. NY-ESO-1 is a member of the cancer/testis (CT) family of human tumor-associated antigens. NY-ESO-1 is an attractive candidate tumor antigen for the development of immunotherapy for a wide variety of cancers. NY-ESO-1 is expressed in multiple types of tumors, but its normal tissue distribution is primarily limited to the testis and ovaries. In addition, NY-ESO-1 elicits frequent antibody responses in cancer patients that are accompanied by strong CD8(+) T cell responses against HLA-A2-restricted epitopes. Therefore, both humoral and cellular immune responses can be mounted against NY-ESO-1. LAGE-1, also known as ESO-2, is observed in 25-50% of tumor samples of melanomas, non-small-cell lung carcinomas, bladder, prostate and head and neck cancers.
