A cancer/testis antigen microarray to screen autoantibody biomarkers of non-small cell lung cancer

Cancer/testis antigens (CTAs) are highly immunogenic in many tumors, especially in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A low-density protein microarray, which consisted of 72 CTAs and six non-CTAs, was used to screen for lung cancer-related autoantibodies. The CTA panel of NY-ESO-1, XAGE-1, ADAM29 and MAGEC1, had sensitivity and specificity values of 33% and 96%, respectively. When examined in a test set, this panel of markers had sensitivity and specificity values of 36% and 89%, respectively. This array of markers preferentially detected NSCLC, but did not detect breast cancer, and non-cancer lung disease.

► It’s the first survey of autoantibodies in the serum of NSCLC using a comprehensive number of CTA. ► Our results greatly enrich our knowledge of the auto-immunity of CTAs in cancers and will definitely benefit future research in this area. ► By screening 377 sera from training and test set samples, we identified four CTAs are indicator of NSCLC.