Cancer-Testis Antigens and Immunosurveillance in Human Cutaneous Squamous Cell and Basal Cell Carcinomas

Abstract

We propose that immunosurveillance controls SCC, but not BCC, because the latter lacks MHC-I. This fits with the increased incidence of SCC in immunosuppressed individuals and may explain the relatively low prevalence of CT-antigen expression in SCC as a result of CD8(+) T-cell-driven immunoediting.