title: Human kallikrein 8, a novel biomarker for ovarian carcinoma.
abstract: Human kallikrein 8 (hK8; neuropsin) is a serine protease and new member of the hK family. The aim of this study was to examine if hK8 may serve as a novel cancer biomarker. An hk8-ELISA, developed in-house, was used to study the distribution of hK8 in various biological fluids and tissue extracts from healthy individuals and ovarian cancer patients of different stages of the disease (International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology II-IV). For ovarian cancer patients, very high levels in ascites fluid were observed (<or=1000 microg/liter; n = 85 samples). Elevated serum levels were seen in 24 of 40 (62%) of ovarian cancer patients. Higher ascites fluid hK8 concentration was associated with better ovarian cancer progression-free survival (P = 0.02). In both serum and ascites fluid, there is a significant correlation between hK8 and CA125 concentration (r = 0.51 and 0.58, respectively). The serum concentration of hK8 was an indicator of progression on regression on longitudinal monitoring of an ovarian cancer patient. These data suggest that hK8 protein is detectable in ovarian cancer tissue extracts, serum, and ascites fluid, indicating that it may serve as a new ovarian cancer marker.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X5, Canada.
authors.forename: Tadaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kishi
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grass
authors.forename: Antoninus
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soosaipillai
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scorilas
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Harbeck
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schmalfeldt
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dorn
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mysliwiec
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.forename: Eleftherios P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Diamandis
mesh_terms: D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000201:enzymology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003600:Cytosol / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007610:Kallikreins / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C094799:KLK8 protein, human; D007610:Kallikreins