In addition, certain members of CTAs, including Piwil2, DNAJB8, CT45A1, MAGE-A, GAGE, and SPANX, are implicated in the initiation or maintenance, of cancer stem-like cells, promoting tumorigenesis and malignant progression.
However, 3 cancer/testis antigen genes (PAGE4, SCP-1, and SPANX) and 3 clinicopathologic parameters (lymph node involvement, vessel cancer embolus, and tumor invasion depth) correlated significantly with liver metastasis of colorectal cancer (P < .05).
Human sperm protein associated with the nucleus on the X chromosome (SPANX) genes comprise a gene family with five known members (SPANX-A1, -A2, -B, -C, and -D), encoding cancer/testis-specific antigens that are potential targets for cancer immunotherapy.