J Gynecol Oncol.  2009 Sep;20(3):169-175. 10.3802/jgo.2009.20.3.169.

Correlation between preoperative serum levels of five biomarkers and relationships between these biomarkers and cancer stage in epithelial overian cancer

• Hwang J
• Na S
• Lee H
• Lee D

• KMID: 2173450
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3802/jgo.2009.20.3.169

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To examine the correlation among the preoperative serum levels of five biomarkers presumed to be useful for early detection of epithelial ovarian cancer and evaluate the relationships between serum levels of these five biomarkers and epithelial ovarian cancer stage. METHODS: We analyzed 56 newly diagnosed epithelial ovarian cancer patients. Preoperative serum levels of leptin, prolactin, osteopontin (OPN), insulin-like growth factor-II, and CA-125 were determined by ELISA. We also examined the correlation between the serum levels of the biomarkers and ovarian cancer stage. Significant differences in the mean serum levels of two proteins, leptin and CA-125, were observed between stage subsets. RESULTS: There was a significant negative correlation between prolactin and leptin and a significant positive correlation between prolactin and OPN. Of the five biomarkers, only the mean serum CA-125 level showed a significant positive correlation with cancer stage (Spearman rho=0.24, p<0.01). OPN showed a marginally significant positive correlation with stage (Spearman rho=0.14, p=0.07). CONCLUSION: We demonstrated the relationship between five biomarkers in epithelial ovarian cancer. These tumor markers may be useful in screening for ovarian cancer, in characterizing disease states, and in developing therapeutic interventions targeting these marker proteins. Large-scale studies that include potential confounding factors and modifiers are necessary to more accurately define the value of these novel biomarkers in ovarian cancer.

Keyword

Ovarian cancer biomarkers; Leptin; Prolactin; Osteopontin; Insulin-like growth factor-II; CA-125

MeSH Terms

Biomarkers
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Humans
Leptin
Mass Screening
Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial
Osteopontin
Ovarian Neoplasms
Prolactin
Proteins
Biomarkers, Tumor
Leptin
Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial
Osteopontin
Ovarian Neoplasms
Prolactin
Proteins

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Schematic of the mean biomarker levels by FIGO stage. Only the serum level of CA-125 showed a consistent increase with stage.

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  Fig. 2 Linear regression curves between the biomarkers that showed significant correlations on Pearson's correlation analysis. (A) Prolactin and leptin. (B) Prolactin and osteopontin.

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