Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ren, P
• Chen, F-F
• Liu, H-Y
• Cui, X-L
• Sun, Y
• Guan, J-L
• Liu, Z-H
• Liu, J-G
• Wang, Y-N

Titel

High Serum Levels of Follistatin in Patients with Ovarian Cancer

Ist Teil von

• Journal of international medical research, 2012-06, Vol.40 (3), p.877-886

Ort / Verlag

London, England: SAGE Publications

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the potential use of serum follistatin (FST) as a marker for ovarian cancer alongside serum cancer antigen-125 (CA-125). METHODS: Serum samples were collected from patients with ovarian cancer (n = 45), benign ovarian cysts (n = 40) or other cancers (n = 100) and from healthy subjects (n = 60) for the determination of FST and CA-125 levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Expression of FST in ovarian tissue was investigated using immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: Compared with healthy subjects and patients with benign ovarian cysts, serum FST and CA-125 levels were significantly increased in patients with ovarian cancer. Using the 95% confidence interval for the healthy subjects group as the cut-off value, tumour marker sensitivity and specificity in ovarian cancer were 53.3% and 97% for FST and 77.8% and 84% for CA-125, respectively. Tissue expression of FST protein was more pronounced in ovarian cancer than in normal ovary. CONCLUSIONS: The serum FST level was elevated in the peripheral blood of patients with ovarian cancer and has potential as a tumour marker for ovarian cancer diagnosis. It may be particularly useful when combined with CA-125 detection to reduce the number of false-positive results.