Autoantibodies to tumor-associated antigens in epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

This review will focus on recent knowledge related to circulating autoantibodies (AAbs) to tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) in epithelial ovarian carcinoma. So far, the following TAAs have been identified to elicit circulating AAbs in epithelial ovarian carcinoma: p53, homeobox proteins (HOXA7, HOXB7), heat shock proteins (HSP-27, HSP-90), cathepsin D, cancer-testis antigens (NY-ESO-1/LAGE-1), MUC1, GIPC-1, IL-8, Ep-CAM, and S100A7. Since AAbs to TAAs have been identified in the circulation of patients with early-stage cancer, it has been speculated that the assessment of a panel of AAbs specific for epithelial ovarian carcinoma TAAs might hold great potential as a novel tool for early diagnosis of epithelial ovarian carcinoma.