[Frontiers in Bioscience E4, 2558-2578, June 1, 2012]

[Frontiers in Bioscience E4, 2558-2578, June 1, 2012]

Assessing the clinical significance of tumor markers in common neoplasms

Lidija Beketic-Oreskovic^1,2, Petra Maric², Petar Ozretic³ , Darko Oreskovic¹ , Mia Ajdukovic¹, Sonja Levanat³

1University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia, ²Department of Radiotherapy and Internal Oncology, University Hospital for Tumors, Sestre milosrdnice, University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia, ³Laboratory for Hereditary Cancer, Division of Molecular Medicine, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction: 2.1. Clinical significance of tumor markers
3. Tumor markers for breast cancer: 3.1. Cancer antigen (CA) 15-3; 3.2. Cancer antigen (CA) 27.29; 3.3. E-cadherin; 3.4. Estrogen and progesterone receptors; 3.5. Human epidermal receptor protein 2 (HER 2); 3.6. uPA and PAI-1; 3.7. Ki-67; 3.8. BRCA1 and BRCA2; 3.9. Oncotype DXTM and MammaPrintTM
4. Tumor markers for gastrointestinal cancer: 4.1. Cancer antigen (CA) 19-9; 4.2. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA); 4.3. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP); 4.4. K-Ras; 4.5. Microsatellite instability (MSI); 4.6. Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) and beta-catenin
5. Tumor markers for gynecological cancers: 5.1. Cancer antigen (CA) 125; 5.2. Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG); 5.3. Squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag)
6. Tumor marker for prostate cancer: 6.1. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA)
7. Tumor markers for lung cancer: 7.1. CYFRA 21-1; 7.2. Neuron-specific enolase (NSE); 7.3. EML4-ALK fusion gene
8. Conclusion
9. Acknowledgement
10. References

1. ABSTRACT

The term tumor markers include a spectrum of molecules and substances with widely divergent characteristics whose presence in the significant amount can be related to the malignant disease. An ideal tumor marker should have high specificity and sensitivity, which would allow its use in early diagnosis and prognosis of malignant disease, as well as in prediction of therapeutic response and follow-up of the patients. Numerous biochemical entities have emerged as potentially valuable tumor markers so far, but only few markers showed to be of considerable clinical reliability and have been accepted into standard clinical practice. Recent development of genomics and proteomics has enabled the examination of many new potential tumor markers. Scientific studies on discovery, development, and application of tumor markers have been proceeding quite rapidly providing great opportunities for improving the management of cancer patients. This review is focusing on the clinical usefulness of various tumor markers already in clinical practice as well as certain potential markers, giving a brief description of their prognostic and predictive significance in most common malignancies.