Abstract: The present work aims to explore the expression and biological specificity of cancer-testis antigens and melanoma antigen-A (MAGE-A) in pancreatic carcinoma, which might provide the theoretical and experimental foundation for the immunotherapy of pancreatic cancer. Methods: Paraffin-embedded tissue specimens of 52 cases with pancreatic carcinoma were selected. Expression levels of MAGE-A1, MAGE-A3, and MAGE-A4 in the 52 tissue specimens were determined and analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: Antigens MAGE-A1, MAGE-A3, and MAGE-A4 were not expressed in the normal paraneoplastic pancreatic tissues. The positive expression rates of MAGE-A1, MAGE-A3, and MAGE-A4 in the 52 pancreatic cancer cases were 5.77% ( 3/52 ), 44.23% ( 23/52 ), and 23.08% ( 12/52 ), respectively. No significant correlation between the positive expression levels of MAGE-A1 and MAGE-A4 and factors such as age and gender of the patient, cancer site, and pathological grading of the tumor was found in the 52 cases with pancreatic cancer ( P > 0.05 ). MAGE-A3 expression is negatively correlated with pathological grades of the tumor ( r = -0.294, P = 0.034 ). Conclusion: MAGE-A3 is the most commonly expressed antigen in pancreatic cancer among the three subtypes of MAGE. There is a negative correlation between the high expression of MAGE-A3 and pathological grade of tumor in pancreatic cancer. MAGE-A3 might be a potentially promising target for antigen-specific immunotherapy of pancreatic cancer.