{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,28]],"date-time":"2026-01-28T14:10:55Z","timestamp":1769609455396,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,5]],"date-time":"2024-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1722816000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one the most common primary malignancies with high mortality and morbidity. The melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE) gene family includes several genes that are highly expressed in numerous human cancers, making many of them part of the cancer-testis antigen (CTA) family. MAGE-C1 is expressed in various malignancies but is absent in normal cells, except for the male germ line. Its presence is associated with a worse prognosis, increased tumor aggressiveness, and lymph node invasion. Similarly, MAGE-C2 is linked to the development of various malignant tumors. Despite these associations, the roles and mechanisms of MAGE-C1\/MAGE-C2 in HCC remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of MAGE-C1 and MAGE-C2 in HCC and correlate it with clinicohistological characteristics. Our findings indicated that MAGE-C1 expression is associated with a higher number of nodules, elevated AFP levels, HBV or HCV positivity, older age, male sex, and lymph node invasion. MAGE-C2 expression was correlated with these characteristics and the presence of cirrhosis. These results align with the limited literature, which suggests a correlation between MAGE expression and older age and HBV infection. Consequently, our study suggests that MAGE-C1 and MAGE-C2 are promising novel biomarkers for prognosis and potential therapeutic targets in HCC.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics14151692","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,5]],"date-time":"2024-08-05T11:28:54Z","timestamp":1722857334000},"page":"1692","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["An Immunohistochemical Study of MAGE Proteins in Hepatocellular Carcinoma"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Stylianos","family":"Tologkos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vasiliki","family":"Papadatou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9980-7773","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Achilleas G.","family":"Mitrakas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Olga","family":"Pagonopoulou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68132 Alexandroupolis, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2544-1721","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Grigorios","family":"Tripsianis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Medical Statistics, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68132 Alexandroupolis, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Triantafyllos","family":"Alexiadis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christina-Angelika","family":"Alexiadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Antonios-Periklis","family":"Panagiotopoulos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2920-6945","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christina","family":"Nikolaidou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Pathology, Ippokrateio General Hospital of Thessaloniki, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8651-3680","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Lambropoulou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Histology-Embryology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"394","DOI":"10.3322\/caac.21492","article-title":"Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries","volume":"68","author":"Bray","year":"2018","journal-title":"CA Cancer J. 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