immunotherapy in multiple myeloma using cancer-testis antigens

Context:]multiple myeloma (mm) is a bcell malignancy characterized by monoclonal expansion of abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow. it accounts for 10% of hematological malignancies. although patients respond to a wide range of anticancer modalities, relapse occurs in a significant number of the cases. immunotherapeutic approaches have been evolved to tackle this problem. cancertestis antigens ctas as a group of tumorassociated antigens are appropriate targets for cancer immunotherapy as they have restricted expression pattern in normal tissues except for testis which is an immuneprivileged site. expression of these antigens has been assessed in different malignancies including mm.[evidence acquisition:]we performed a computerized search of the medline/pubmed databases with key words: multiple myeloma, cancertestis antigen, and cancer stem cell and immunotherapy.[results:]several ctas including nyeso1, mage and gage family have been shown to be expressed in mm patients. cellular and humoral immune responses against these antigens have been detected in mm patients.[conclusions:]the frequent and high expression level of ctas in mm patients shows that these antigens can be applied as cancer biomarkers as well as targets for immunotherapy in these patients.