title: Clinical significance and usefulness of soluble heparin binding-epidermal growth factor in gastric cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the clinical usefulness of soluble heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (sHB-EGF) as a serum biomarker for gastric cancer (GC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum sHB-EGF levels were measured by a commercially available human HB-EGF ELISA Kit and compared among 60 normal controls, 30 high-risk patients, 37 early gastric cancer (EGC), and 30 advanced gastric cancer (AGC) through ANOVA test. Correlations between serum sHB-EGF and clinicopathological features of GC were analyzed through Spearman's correlation. The diagnostic performance of serum sHB-EGF for GC was evaluated through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum sHB-EGF levels were significantly higher in AGC group (314.4±127.5 pg/mL) than EGC (165.3±123.2 pg/mL), high-risk (98.7±67.3 pg/mL), and control (94.7±83.6 pg/mL) groups (post-hoc Bonferroni, all P<0.001), respectively. Serum sHB-EGF levels were also significantly higher in EGC group than high-risk (P=0.049) and control (P=0.006) groups. Clinicopathologically, serum sHB-EGF levels closely correlated with depth of invasion (T-stage, γs=0.669, P<0.001), lymph node metastasis (N-stage, γs=0.407, P=0.001), and distant metastasis (M-stage, γs=0.261, P=0.030). ROC curve and logistic regression analysis demonstrated a remarkable diagnostic potential of serum sHB-EGF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum sHB-EGF is closely correlated with advanced stage GC and can be a promising serological biomarker for GC.
authors.affiliation: Hye Won Chung, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, International St. Mary's Hospital, Incheon Metropolitan City, Seoul 137-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Won
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Hye Won Chung, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, International St. Mary's Hospital, Incheon Metropolitan City, Seoul 137-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hoon Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Hye Won Chung, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, International St. Mary's Hospital, Incheon Metropolitan City, Seoul 137-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Baeck
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D066257:Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C587883:HBEGF protein, human; D066257:Heparin-binding EGF-like Growth Factor
keywords: Biomarker; Diagnostic; Gastric cancer; Prognostic; Soluble heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor