title: The use of serum deoxythymidine kinase as a prognostic marker, and in the monitoring of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: A recently developed enzyme assay, utilizing [125I]-iododeoxyuridine as substrate, and capable of detecting normal levels of serum deoxythymidine kinase (s-dTk), was used in an investigation of sera from 155 untreated patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). The patients were classified at the discovery of disease, both according to spread (stages I-IV according to the Ann Arbor classification) and to tumour histology (the Kiel classification). The results showed a significant correlation between s-dTk level and the extent of disease, as well as to the malignancy; i.e. the more advanced the disease or the more aggressive the tumour, the higher the s-dTk values. Greater than 100-fold increases in s-dTk levels were found in some patients compared to those reported for healthy individuals. A high pretreatment level of s-dTk for patients in stages III-IV correlated with a poor prognosis for the patient in terms of survival. This was consistent even when only patients in stages III-IV with "high-grade" malignant lymphomas were included in the analysis. Longitudinal studies of s-dTk levels in 19 NHL patients showed that s-dTk increases with progression of the disease, decreases during successful therapy, and finally increases during relapse. It is concluded that s-dTk could be used both as a prognostic marker and to monitor the effect of therapy in NHL patients.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D013548:Sweden; D013937:Thymidine Kinase / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013937:Thymidine Kinase