Elevated serum levels of p105(erbB-2) in patients with advanced-stage prostatic adenocarcinoma.
Expression of a truncated or extracellular form (p105erbB-2) of p185erbB-2 has been demonstrated in the sera of breast cancer patients. We examined the levels of p105erbB-2 in the sera of patients with various stages of prostatic adenocarcinoma, in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and in a series of control male patients hospitalized for illnesses unrelated to the prostate. p105erbB-2 levels did not differ between the controls and BPH patients or between these groups and patients with stage A, B or C adenocarcinomas. In contrast, serum p105erbB-2 levels of patients with stage D adenocarcinomas were significantly elevated when compared with either control or BPH patients. There was no correlation between PSA and p105erbB-2 levels among controls, patients with BPH or patients with prostate cancer. Patients with poorly differentiated tumors (combined Gleason score >7) or moderately differentiated tumors (combined Gleason score 5-7) had higher p105erbB-2 levels as compared to patients with well-differentiated tumors (combined Gleason score <5), though this difference was not statistically significant. There was no correlation between serum p105erbB-2 levels and p185erbB-2 expression in malignant tissue, as determined by immunohistochemistry. However, patients with moderate to strong expression of p185erbB-2 within the adenocarcinomas were approximately 4 times more likely to demonstrate elevated serum p105erbB-2 levels as compared with patients with low expression of p185erbB-2.
Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA.
R B
RB
Myers
D
D
Brown
D K
DK
Oelschlager
J W
JW
Waterbor
M E
ME
Marshall
S
S
Srivastava
C R
CR
Stockard
D A
DA
Urban
W E
WE
Grizzle
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000097:blood*; D052002:NF-kappa B p50 Subunit; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D011469:Prostatic Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000097:blood*
D016328:NF-kappa B; D052002:NF-kappa B p50 Subunit; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen; D011498:Protein Precursors; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases