Clinical significance of serum laminin and type-IV collagen levels in cutaneous melanoma patients

Laminin and type-IV collagen constitute a significant portion of the extracellular matrix. The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether the serum concentrations of laminin and type-IV collagen may serve as biomarkers for cutaneous melanoma. Sixty pathologically confirmed melanoma patients were enrolled in the study. Serum laminin and type-IV collagen levels were assessed using an ELISA. Thirty healthy controls were also examined. No significant differences in the baseline serum levels of laminin were identified between melanoma patients and healthy controls (P=0.45). However, the baseline serum levels of type-IV collagen were significantly elevated in melanoma patients compared with those in the control group (P0.05). Furthermore, the serum levels of laminin and type-IV collagen had no prognostic value regarding the outcome for melanoma patients (P=0.36 and P=0.26, respectively). While laminin levels showed no diagnostic value, the serum concentrations of type-IV collagen were indicated to serve as a diagnostic marker in patients with cutaneous melanoma. In conclusion, type-IV collagen levels may be used as a diagnostic marker for cutaneous melanoma, while being void of any prognostic value

Significance of serum neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally downregulated protein 9 in melanoma

Neural precursor cell-expressed developmentally downregulated protein 9 (NEDD9) is a promoter for various cellular functions that result in tumorigenesis. The aim of the present study was to analyse the serum levels of NEDD9 in melanoma patients in order to evaluate its prognostic, predictive and diagnostic value. Data from 112 melanoma patients were retrospectively analyzed and ELISA assays were used to measure serum NEDD9 concentration. The median serum NEDD9 levels of the patients were significantly higher compared with those of the controls. Serum NEDD9 was not found to be associated with any of the clinicopathological parameters, and was also not found to be prognostic for survival in melanoma. Therefore, serum NEDD9 may be of diagnostic value in melanoma, but its usefulness in prognosis remains controversial. The important role of NEDD9 in tumor angiogenesis necessitates efforts to elucidate its interactions with the tumor microenvironment and its potential as a therapeutic target for malignancies

Levels of serum fibronectin as a biomarker in gastric cancer patients: Correlation with clinical diagnosis and outcome

Fibronectin is an important component of the extracellular matrix and serves a role in the pathogenesis of multiple malignancies. The expression of fibronectin also affects the outcome for patients with cancer. The objective of the present study was to determine the clinical significance of the serum fibronectin levels in patients with gastric cancer. A total of 63 patients with a pathologically confirmed diagnosis of gastric cancer were enrolled into the present study. Serum fibronectin concentrations were determined by the solid-phase sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Age and sex matched healthy controls (n=30) were included in the analysis. The median age at diagnosis was 62 years (range 28-82 years). The baseline serum fibronectin levels of the patients with gastric cancer were significantly higher compared with those in the control group (median values, 606, vs. 193 ng/ml; P0.05). In addition, no correlation was observed in serum fibronectin level and response to chemotherapy (P=0.12). Serum fibronectin concentration demonstrated no prognostic role on survival (P=0.43). In conclusion, the serum levels of fibronectin may have a good diagnostic marker in patients with gastric cancer. However, its predictive and prognostic values remain to be elucidated

Assessment of prognostic and diagnostic value of some biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma

© Experimental Oncology, 2020Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an increasing problem worldwide. Determining a prognosis is important for the management of HCC. Aim: We aimed to investigate the impact of interleukin (IL)-29, galectin-3, leptin, fibronectin and protease-activated receptor-1 on the prognosis and diagnosis of patients with HCC. Materials and Methods: 60 HCC patients (75% male) and 20 healthy volunteers (70% male) were enrolled in this prospective study. Serum samples were obtained during the first admission before any adjuvant or metastatic treatments were administered. Serum biomarkers were determined using ELISA kits. Results: All patients had cirrhosis, and the Child - Pugh stages were as follows: 61.5% Child - Pugh A, 35.9% Child - Pugh B and 2.6% Child - Pugh C (61.7% hepatitis B virus, 11.7% hepatitis C virus, 6.7% hepatitis B virus + hepatitis C virus, 11.7% alcoholic and 8.3% cryptogenic). Fifty-three percent of the HCC patients died within a median of 7.5 months. The mean serum level of IL-29 in patients with HCC was higher than that in the control group (32.55 pg/ml vs 11.46 pg/ml, p 0.05). The biomarkers were divided into two groups according to their median level. In the log rank analysis, biomarkers had no effect on survival (p > 0.05). Conclusions: IL-29 and galectin-3 levels were significantly higher in HCC patients. Although IL-29 and galectin-3 can be used as diagnostic markers for HCC, they had no prognostic value in HCC patients