Autoantibodies against tumor-related antigens: incidence and biologic significance.

In the last two decades, tumors have been found to evoke antigen-specific immune responses. However, the biologic role of spontaneous tumor-specific T-cell and antibody responses are still a matter of controversy. Paradoxically, cancer-related immunity has been suggested to promote tumor growth, to effectively suppress tumor progression, or to simply represent a clinically irrelevant epiphenomenon. In recent years, research has focused on tumor antigen-specific T cells, and little has been done to systematically evaluate the significance of spontaneously occurring tumor-associated autoantibodies. For this article, we screened the relevant literature on the incidence and significance of tumor-induced antibodies. We found that such spontaneous autoantibodies, targeting different antigens, are present at varying frequencies throughout a wide diversity of malignancies. In particular entities, these antibodies are already used or might be developed into diagnostic tools. Furthermore, autologous antibodies against some antigen families have a prognostic significance. Finally, tumor antigen-specific autoantibodies seem to be capable of disrupting tumor growth but, in certain instances, are also misused by the malignancy to evade immune control. Copyright 2010 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.