title: Serum HMGB1 as a prognostic marker for malignant pleural mesothelioma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive malignant tumor of mesothelial origin that shows a limited response to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Therefore, diagnosing MPM early is very important. Some researchers have previously reported that high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) was correlated with pulmonary fibrosis. MPM involves the malignant transformation of mesothelial cells, which originate from mesenchymal cells similar to lung fibroblasts. Here, we investigated serum levels of HMGB1 in patients with MPM and compared them with those of a population that had been exposed to asbestos without developing MPM.
  
  
  METHODS
  HMGB1 production from MPM cell lines was measured using ELISA. Serum HMGB1 levels were also examined in 61 MPM patients and 45 individuals with benign asbestos-related diseases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HMGB1 concentrations of 2 out of 4 MPM cell lines were higher than that of normal mesothelial cell line, Met-5A. We demonstrated that patients with MPM had significantly higher serum levels of HMGB1 than the population who had been exposed to asbestos but had not developed MPM. The difference in overall survival between groups with serum HMGB1 levels that were lower and higher than assumed cut-off values was significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that serum HMGB1 concentration is a useful prognostic factor for MPM.
authors.affiliation: Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa-cho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, 663-8501, Japan. ctabata@hyo-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Chiharu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tabata
authors.forename: Eisuke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tabata
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanemura
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mikami
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nogi
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Masachika
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishizaki
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakano
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood*; D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001195:Asbestosis / Q000097:blood; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D024243:HMGB1 Protein / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D024243:HMGB1 Protein