title: Prognostic value of serum carbonic anhydrase IX in testicular germ cell tumor patients.
abstract: Despite the fact that testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs) are one of the most chemosensitive solid tumors, a small proportion of patients fail to be cured following cisplatin-based first line chemotherapy. Upregulation of carbonic anhydrase IX (CA IX) in various solid tumors is associated with poor outcome. The current prospective study investigated the prognostic value of serum CA IX level in TGCTs. In total, 83 patients (16 non-metastatic following orchiectomy with no evidence of disease, 57 metastatic chemotherapy-naïve and 10 metastatic relapsed chemotherapy-pretreated) starting adjuvant and/or new line of chemotherapy and 35 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Serum CA IX values were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and intratumoral CA IX was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Metastatic chemotherapy-naïve patients had significantly higher mean CA IX serum levels than healthy controls (490.6 vs. 249.6 pg/ml, P=0.005), while there was no difference in serum CA IX levels in non-metastatic or relapsed TGCT patients compared with healthy controls. There was no significant difference in the mean serum CA IX levels between different groups of patients and between the first and second cycle of chemotherapy, nor association with patients/tumor characteristics. Serum CA IX was not prognostic for progression-free survival [hazard ratio (HR)=0.81, P=0.730] or overall survival (HR=0.64, P=0.480). However, there was a significant association between intratumoral CA IX expression and serum CA IX concentration (rho=0.51, P=0.040). These results suggest that serum CA IX level correlates with tumor CA IX expression in TGCT patients, but fails to exhibit either a prognostic value or an association with patients/tumor characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia; Department of Oncology, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 811 04 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kalavska
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia; Department of Oncology, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; Second Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chovanec
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Virology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 811 04 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zatovicova
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Virology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 811 04 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takacova
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Institute, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 811 04 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gronesova
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia; Department of Oncology, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Svetlovska
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Virology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 811 04 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baratova
authors.affiliation: First Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and St. Elizabeth Cancer Institute, 81 250 Bratislava, Slovakia; Department of Oncology, St. Elizabeth Cancer Institute, 81 250 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Miskovska
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Obertova
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Patrik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palacka
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rajec
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sycova-Mila
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cierna
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Slovak Medical University, 833 03 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Karol
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kajo
authors.affiliation: First Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and St. Elizabeth Cancer Institute, 81 250 Bratislava, Slovakia; Department of Oncology, St. Elizabeth Cancer Institute, 81 250 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spanik
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Babal
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia; Second Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mardiak
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Virology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 811 04 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pastorekova
authors.affiliation: Translational Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia; Department of Oncology, National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia; Second Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and National Cancer Institute, 833 10 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mego
keywords: carbonic anhydrase IX; hypoxia; prognostic value; testicular germ cell tumors