title: The utility of serum N-ERC/mesothelin as a biomarker of ovarian carcinoma.
abstract: Ovarian carcinoma has been difficult to diagnose at an early stage. Recently, it has been recognized that the measurement of blood N-ERC/mesothelin levels aids early detection in and postoperative therapeutic monitoring of patients with mesothelioma, who have been exposed to asbestos. ERC/mesothelin has also been reported to be expressed in ovarian carcinoma. We determined serum N-ERC/mesothelin levels in patients with ovarian carcinoma using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, we immunohistochemically evaluated surgically resected specimens for C-ERC/mesothelin expression. As a result, of the 32 patients with ovarian tumors (18 carcinoma, 2 borderline tumors), one patient with serous adenocarcinoma showed increased N-ERC/ mesothelin levels. Immunohistochemically, of the 20 ovarian tumor (carcinoma and borderline tumor) specimens evaluated for serum N-ERC/mesothelin, 9 (45.0%) were positive for C-ERC/mesothelin. The C-ERC/mesothelin-positive specimens were found to be serous and clear cell adenocarcinomas. If serum N-ERC/mesothelin, which is considered useful for early detection in and therapeutic monitoring of patients with mesothelioma, may also be used for ovarian carcinoma monitoring, it may be a valuable serum tumor marker for the early detection of ovarian carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Diagnostic Pathology and.
authors.forename: Harumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saeki
authors.forename: Akane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashizume
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: Fujihiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishi
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nojima
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Okio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hino