It shares 30% homology with stem cell antigen type 2 (SCA-2), a surface marker of immature lymphocytes ( 1). Prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) is a small, glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell surface protein belonging to the Thy-1/Ly-6 family. PSCA seems to be a Jekyll and Hyde molecule that plays differential roles, tumor promoting or suppressing, depending on the cellular context. Recent exciting findings that genetic variations of PSCA conferred increased risks of gastric cancer and bladder cancer have opened up a new avenue of research about the pathological function of PSCA. In contrast, PSCA is down-regulated in esophageal and gastric cancer and may have a tumor-suppressing function in the gastric epithelium. In addition, PSCA has also shown clinical potential in immunotherapy as a prostate-specific antigen, which, when presented by dendritic cells, may elicit strong tumor-specific immunity. Therefore, PSCA has been proposed as a biomarker of diagnosis and prognosis, as well as a target of therapy for these cancers. The expression of PSCA is positively correlated with advanced clinical stage and metastasis in prostate cancers and is also associated with malignant progression of premalignant prostate lesions. It is up-regulated in several major cancers including prostate, bladder, and pancreatic cancers. Although PSCA is thought to be involved in intracellular signaling, much remains unknown about its physiological function and regulatory mechanism in normal and cancer cells.

Prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored cell surface protein.

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