Adjuvant Autologous Melanoma Vaccine for Macroscopic Stage III Disease: Survival, Biomarkers, and Improved Response to CTLA-4 Blockade

Table 4

Selected genes expressed on melanoma cells which correlate with overall survival. The genes were depicted by Maxstat-package utilizing a Cox-regression analysis followed by rank statistics to determine the best cut-off value which separates patients into favorable versus unfavorable survival groups. ↑ = higher expression correlates with prolonged survival time; ↓ = higher expression correlates with decreased survival time.

Gene	↑/↓	Full name	Maxstat cut point	Maxstat value	CoxPH hazard ratio	CoxPH value
MICA	↑	MHC class I-related chain A (NKG2D ligand)	7.8	0.018	0.5	0.015
CTAG2	↑	Cancer testis antigen 2 (LAGE-1, NY-ESO-2)	5.9	0.014	0.58	0.015
SSX4 /// SSX4B	↑	Synovial sarcoma, X breakpoint 4	3.9	0.008	0.58	0.017
TGFA	↑	Transforming growth factor α	4.08	0.011	0.66	0.018
KIR3DX1	↑	Killer cell Ig-like receptor	4	0.023	0.56	0.02
MAGEA1	↑	Melanoma antigen family A, 1	5.52	0.042	0.69	0.028
SSX1	↑	Synovial sarcoma, X breakpoint 1	3.28	0.035	0.63	0.043
SMAD1	↓	SMAD family member 1	5.5	0.046	2.58	0.0002
HSPH1	↓	Heat shock 105 kDa/110 kDa protein 1	10.7	0.008	1.9	0.007