High serum levels of follistatin in patients with ovarian cancer.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated the potential use of serum follistatin (FST) as a marker for ovarian cancer alongside serum cancer antigen-125 (CA-125).


METHODS
Serum samples were collected from patients with ovarian cancer (n = 45), benign ovarian cysts (n = 40) or  other cancers (n = 100) and from healthy subjects (n = 60) for the determination of FST and CA-125 levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Expression of FST in ovarian tissue was investigated using immunohistochemical staining.


RESULTS
Compared with healthy subjects  and patients with benign ovarian cysts, serum FST and CA-125 levels were significantly increased in patients with ovarian cancer. Using the 95% confidence interval for the healthy subjects group as the cut-off value, tumour marker sensitivity and specificity in ovarian cancer were 53.3% and  97% for FST and 77.8% and 84% for CA-125, respectively. Tissue expression of FST protein was more pronounced in ovarian cancer than in normal ovary.


CONCLUSIONS
The serum FST level was elevated in the peripheral blood of patients with ovarian cancer and has potential as a tumour marker for  ovarian cancer diagnosis. It may be particularly useful when combined with CA-125 detection to reduce the number of false-positive results.
Department of Orthopaedics and Joint Surgery, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
P
P
Ren
F-F
FF
Chen
H-Y
HY
Liu
X-L
XL
Cui
Y
Y
Sun
J-L
JL
Guan
Z-H
ZH
Liu
J-G
JG
Liu
Y-N
YN
Wang
D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D038681:Follistatin / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D038681:Follistatin