title: From gene profiling to diagnostic markers: IL-18 and FGF-2 complement CA125 as serum-based markers in epithelial ovarian cancer.
abstract: We used an oligonucleotide-based DNA microarray to identify potential markers in 39 primary cultures of ovarian cancer specimens compared with 11 primary cultures of normal ovarian epithelia. Differential gene expression of IL-18 and FGF-2 was validated on a subset of samples by quantitative PCR and by IHC, using an independent tissue array of 90 cores of 20 normal ovarian surface epithelia and 70 EOCs representing different grades and pathologies of ovarian disease. We further compared, by ELISA, these two markers with CA125 in sera from 25 cancer-free and 47 ovarian cancer patients. IL-18 and FGF-2 proteins were significantly elevated in tumor tissues (p<0.04) and sera (p<0.05) from patients with ovarian cancer. In combination, the three markers (IL-18, FGF-2, and CA125) showed similar sensitivity in scoring for ovarian cancer (35/45 patients) compared to that of CA125 alone (37/45) and significantly improved the specificity of detection (20/25 patients) compared to each marker individually (15/25 for CA125; 18/25 FGF-2; 16/25 for IL-18). In conclusion we show that a combination of the three serum markers (IL-18, FGF-2 and CA125) is associated with EOC, with higher specificity than CA125 alone. Prospective studies with a large cohort of susceptible ovarian cancer patients will be required to expand these findings.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche du Center Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CR-CHUM), Institut du Cancer de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Le Page
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ouellet
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Madore
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.forename: Patricia N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Tonin
authors.forename: Diane M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Provencher
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Mes-Masson
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004848:Epithelium; D005260:Female; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D010053:Ovary / Q000502:physiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D020382:Interleukin-18; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2