Lecture: Tumor Markers Flashcards
Uncontrolled growth of cells that can develop into a tumor & spread to other areas of body
Cancer
Biochemical substance synthesized and released by cancer cells or produced in the host in response to a cancerous substance
Tumor Markers
Surgical removal of one or both testicles
Orchidectomy
Increased in primary or secondary liver cancer
Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP)
ALP that indicates lung cancer
Placental-ALP
Ovarian, lung, gastrointestinal cancers and Hodgkin’s disease
Regan ALP
For staging of prostate cancer and therapy monitoring
Prostatic Acid Phosphatase (PAP)
Much more specific for screening and early detection of prostatic cancer
Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA)
Low levels of PSA can be detected in serum of
Healthy men
Reliable marker for differentiation of prostatic cancer from benign prostatic hyperplasia
Ratio between free and total PSA
Condition in men in which the prostate gland is enlarged and not cancerous
Benign prostatic hyperplasia
Decreases blood calcium concentration; elevated in medullary thyroid cancer; monitoring treatment and detecting cancer recurrence
Calcitonin
Useful marker for tumors of placenta and testes; high in primary testes insufficiency
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)
A condition where testes fail to produce sperm despite of adequate hormonal support
Primary testicular failure (PTF) or hypergonadotropic hypogonadism
Abundant serum protein synthesized by fetal liver & re-expressed in certain types of tumors; marker for hepatocellular, germ cell and testicular cancers
α-Fetoprotein (AFP)
Elevated AFP levels indicates?
Shorter survival time
Marker for colorectal, gastrointestinal, lung and breast, thyroid carcinoma; cell-surface protein; smokers and benign conditions
Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)
Marker for breast carcinoma; most useful for recurrence and treatment monitoring
CA 15-3
Nonspecific marker for ovarian and endometrial carcinomas; analyzed by immunoassays using “OC 125” & “M11” antibodies
CA – 125
Marker for colorectal, gastric and pancreatic
carcinoma; hepatobiliary, gastric, hepatocellular and breast cancer; benign conditions – pancreatitis and GI diseases
CA 19-9
Marker for gastric and pancreatic carcinoma; Recurrence and treatment
CA - 50
Marker for breast cancer; recurrence and treatment
CA – 27.29
Marker for multiple myeloma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma; chronic inflammation and viral hepatitis
β2-microglobulin
Marker for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, liver, lung and breast cancer
Ferritin
Marker for detection of differentiated thyroid cancer
Thyroglobulin
Marker for multiple myeloma; paraproteins appearing as sharp bands in the globulin area of SPE
Monoclonal Immunoglobulin
Free monoclonal Ig light chain in urine (reliable marker for multiple myeloma)
Bence-Jones protein
Breast cancer indicators for hormonal therapy
Estrogen and progesterone receptors
Useful adjunct to estrogen receptor testing; dependent on estrogen action
Progesterone receptor
Monitors trastuzumab or Herceptin therapy efficiency; breast cancer
C-erbB2 (HER-2 Neu)
Treatment for cancers that have large amounts of a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2
Trastuzumab
Specific genes in inherited predisposition for breast and ovarian cancer
BRCA1 and BRCA2
Marker for hepatoma
GGT
Marker for brain cancer
2-hydroxylutarate
Marker for urinary bladder cancer
Nuclear matrix protein
Marker for small cell lung cancer and prostrate cancer
CK-1
Marker for head, neck, lung, breast, kidney, cervix, skin, primary breast cancer
Parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTH-rP)
