title: Diagnostic and prognostic significance of human kallikrein 11 (KLK11) mRNA expression levels in patients with laryngeal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Human kallikrein 11 gene (KLK11) encodes a secreted serine protease. In view of its diagnostic and prognostic strength in many malignancies, we investigated the mRNA expression levels of KLK11 in laryngeal tissues in order to unveil its clinical usefulness in laryngeal cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  KLK11 expression was quantified in 163 tissue samples from 105 laryngeal cancer patients with the development of a highly sensitive real-time PCR methodology, using SYBR Green® chemistry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  KLK11 expression in laryngeal cancer specimens of primary or recurrent nature was significantly inferior compared with their non-malignant counterparts (P<0.001 and P=0.026, respectively), a finding of immense diagnostic value as illustrated in the ROC curve analyses (P<0.001). Survival analysis showed that patients harboring KLK11-positive tumors had a significantly decreased risk of death (HR=0.26, P=0.042).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data recommend KLK11 mRNA expression as a novel and independent biomarker in laryngeal cancer for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Athens, 15701 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Patsis
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yiotakis
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scorilas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D052160:Benzothiazoles; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D003959:Diamines; D005260:Female; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D011379:Prognosis; D011804:Quinolines; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012372:ROC Curve; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics*; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D052160:Benzothiazoles; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D003959:Diamines; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D011804:Quinolines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C114880:trypsin-like serine protease; C098022:SYBR Green I; D012697:Serine Endopeptidases