title: Extracellular cAMP-dependent protein kinase (ECPKA) in melanoma.
abstract: Melanoma is one of the fastest rising malignancies in the United States. When detected early, primary melanomas are curable through surgery. However, despite significant improvements in diagnosis and surgical, local and systemic therapy, mortality rate in metastatic melanoma remains high. Furthermore, genetic alterations associated with the development and stepwise progression of melanoma, are still unclear. Previous reports show that the catalytic kinase subunit of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase is secreted by tumor cells and can be detected in the serum of cancer patients. We examine in this report the clinical significance of this secreted C subunit kinase termed extracellular protein kinase (ECPKA) in melanoma patients. Our results showed the presence of ECPKA activity in the serum of melanoma patients and correlate with the appearance and size of the tumor. Most importantly, surgical removal of melanoma causes a precipitous decrease in ECPKA activity in the sera of patients, suggesting that ECPKA may be a novel predictive marker in melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, School of Public Health; Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Tsunekazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kita
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goydos
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Reitman
authors.forename: Roald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ravatn
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wei-Chung
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Khew-Voon
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Chin
mesh_terms: D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008545:Melanoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging
chemical_list: D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases