title: Pleiotrophin as a potential biomarker in breast cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pleiotrophin (PTN), a multifunctional growth factor, is up-regulated in many tumors. PTN is reported to play an important role in the regulation of several cellular processes. The objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical significance of PTN as a tumor marker in breast cancer (BC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum PTN levels were detected in 105 BC patients and 40 healthy volunteers using ELISA. In addition, PTN expression was examined in 80 BC tissues in a nested case-control study by immunohistochemistry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum PTN levels were elevated in BC patients compared to healthy controls. Area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.878 (95% CI: 0.824-0.932). The sensitivity of serum PTN was superior to CEA and CA15-3. High serum PTN levels were associated with TNM stage, histology grade, and distant metastasis. Moreover, serum PTN levels decreased significantly after surgical treatment. In BC tissues, PTN expression was significantly higher in BC tissues relative to paired paracancerous tissues. Tissue PTN expression proved to be a prognostic factor for breast cancer according to multivariable logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PTN could be considered as a potential biomarker for the presence of breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Jiequn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Haocheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nan
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Shengyang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenjuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Xi'an Institute for Health Education, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710004, PR China.
authors.forename: Shounian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China. Electronic address: chinahjj@163.com.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, PR China. Electronic address: nankj@163.com.
authors.forename: Kejun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D016207:Cytokines; C066845:pleiotrophin
keywords: Biomarker; Breast cancer; Diagnosis; Pleiotrophin; Prognosis