Detection of Serum CSLEX Levels in Breast Cancer Patients
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Date
2011-02-11
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Thai Cancer Journal
Abstract
Breast cancer (BRC) is an important malignant disease. Its incidence is highest among the female cancers in Thailand, with a trend to increase annually. The discovery of new tumor markers is urgently needed, to enable BRC to be detected in its early stages, to improve prognosis, to monitor treatment, and to detect recurrence, and thereby control this serious neoplasm. It has been reported that CSLEX (sialyl LewisX), a cancer-associated carbohydrate antigen on cancer-cell membrane, can be detected in the serum of cancer patients at higher levels than healthy controls; it can be used for monitoring the treatment of patients with cancers of the lung, stomach, colon, and breast. The aims of this study were to investigate differences in the serum CSLEX levels of BRC patients and healthy controls, and the correlation of serum CSLEX levels with stages and histological types. The level of serum CSLEX was measured in 200 breast-cancer patients and 200 healthy controls by enzyme immunoassay technique. The average level of serum CSLEX in the breast-cancer group was 12.14 + 15.70 U/ml (mean + SD) which was significantly higher than the healthy control group (3.56 + 2.41 U/ml) (p\<0.001). In the healthy control group, the cutoff value was 8.38 U/ml (mean + 2SD). The sensitivity and specificity of serum CSLEX for the detection of BRC were 69.0% and 98.0%, respectively. The serum CSLEX levels increased among the advanced-stage BRC patients. However, no correlation was found between serum CSLEX level and histological type. The findings of this study suggest that the detection of serum CSLEX level may be a useful tool for the diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancers among Thai women. (Thai Cancer J 2010;30:145-152)
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Thai Cancer Journal; Vol.30 No.4 October-December 2010; 145-152