A new tumor marker for Ovarian Cancer

癌细胞具有独特的细胞特征，这些特征发出疾病存在的信号。这种特性可以潜在地用作检测癌症存在的标志物。核黄素载体蛋白（RCP）是一种雌激素诱导的生长发育特异性蛋白。我们假设血清RCP水平可用于准确和非侵入性地检测卵巢上皮癌和女性特有的其他癌症，如乳腺癌、子宫内膜癌和宫颈癌。在这个项目中，我们将使用卵巢上皮癌作为模型系统来验证这一假设。在对6名女性的初步研究中，我们发现状态I和状态II的平均RCP水平分别为3.5 ng/ml和11.2 ng/ml。对于III期卵巢癌，与健康受试者的0.7 ng/ml相比。尽管研究规模较小，但差异具有高度统计学显著性，差异的p值小于0.05。在本提案中，我们将在病例对照研究中前瞻性地确认我们的初步结果。我们将从路易斯安那州立大学健康科学中心、大学医院和纪念医学中心的诊所招募卵巢癌病例。未患任何癌症的对照受试者将从妇科诊所招募，并将在种族、年龄、绝经状态和（如果是绝经前）月经周期天数方面进行1.1匹配。将在入组研究时检测病例和对照组的血清RCP水平。我们将试图证实我们的初步数据，血清RCP水平可以准确地检测早期卵巢上皮癌和预测其阶段。我们还将测量CA-125的血清水平，这是一种目前正在使用的标志物，尽管它在只有约50%的卵巢癌中升高。我们将比较RCP试验和CA-125试验的性能，以评价前者在预测早期卵巢癌方面的优越性。我们将比较RCP试验和CA-125试验的性能，以评价前者在预测早期卵巢癌方面的优越性。最后，利用免疫组化技术，我们将描述RCP在上皮性卵巢癌肿瘤组织中的表达模式。我们的初步研究表明，RCP的作用作为一个分子标记，表明卵巢癌的存在。RCP测试将是使用癌细胞标记作为检测标记的有价值的应用，这是NCI 2001年旁路预算文件的关键组成部分。

Cancer cells possess unique cellular signatures which signal the presence of the disease. This property can be potentially used as a marker to detect the presence of the cancer. Riboflavin Carrier Protein (RCP) is an estrogen induced growth and development specific protein. We hypothesize that serum levels of RCP can be used to accurately and non- invasively detect ovarian epithelial cancer and other cancers unique to women such as those of the breast, endometrium and cervix. In this project we will test this hypothesis using ovarian epithelial cancer as a model system. In a preliminary study of 6 women, we found that mean RCP levels were 3.5 ng/ml for state I and 11.2 ng.m. for state III ovarian cancer, as compared to 0.7 ng/ml for healthy subjects. Although the study size is small, the differences are highly statistically significant with p values for difference less than 0.05. In the present proposal, we will prospectively confirm our preliminary results in a case control study. We will recruit incident ovarian cancer cases from clinics at LSU Health Sciences Center, University Hospital and Memorial Medical Center. Control subjects not having any cancer will be recruited from Gynecology clinics and will be matched 1.1 for race, age, menopausal status and if pre-menopausal, for day of menstrual cycle. Serum RCP levels will be tested on both cases and controls at entry into the study. We will attempt to confirm our preliminary data that serum, RCP levels can accurately detect early ovarian epithelial cancer and predict its stage. We will also measure the serum levels of CA-125, a marker that is currently being used even though it is elevated in only about 50% of ovarian cancers. We will compare performance of RCP test with CA-125 test in order to evaluate the superiority of the former in predicting early ovarian cancer. We will compare performance of RCP test with CA-125 test in order to evaluate the superiority the former in predicting early ovarian cancer. Finally, using immunohistochemical techniques, we will characterize expression patterns of RCP in epithelial ovarian cancer tumor tissue. Our preliminary studies suggest a role of RCP as a molecular signature indicative of the present of ovarian cancer. The RCP test will be a valuable application of the use of cancer cell signatures as detection markers, which is a critical component of the 2001 Bypass Budget Document of NCI.