Quantitative Analysis of PRAME for Detection of Minimal Residual Disease in Leukemia

Preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) was first isolated using cDNA expression cloning techniques as a gene encoding a human melanoma antigen recognized by melanoma reactive cytotoxic T-cells (CTL) (1 ). This gene codes for a 509-amino-acid protein whose function has not yet been identified. PRAME is expressed in various types of cancer, including melanoma (97%), sarcoma (80%), small-cell lung cancer (70%), renal cell carcinoma (40%), and head and neck cancer (29%) (1 ,2 ). PRAME is also found in limited normal tissues, including endometrium and adrenal glands, and found highly expressed in testis.