Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
J Oncol. 2012;2012:575647. doi: 10.1155/2012/575647. Epub 2012 Jun 19.
Prognostic markers play an important role in our understanding of tumors and how to treat them. Thymidine kinase 1 (TK1), a proliferation marker involved in DNA repair, has been shown to have independent prognostic potential. This prognostic potential includes the novel concept that upregulation of serum TK1 levels is an early event in cancer development. This same effect may also be seen in tumor tissue. In order to demonstrate that TK1 upregulation is an early event in tumor tissue formation, tissue arrays were obtained and stained for TK1 by immunohistochemistry. Using a progressive breast tissue array, precancerous tissue including breast adenosis, simple hyperplasia, and atypical hyperplasia stained positive for TK1 expression. Different stages of breast carcinoma tissue also stained positive for TK1 including nonspecific infiltrating duct, infiltrating lobular, and infiltrating duct with lymph node metastasis carcinomas. This indicates that TK1 upregulation is an early event in breast carcinoma development, and may be useful in identifying precancerous tissue. Further work is needed to better understand the differences seen between TK1 positive and negative tissues.
预后标志物在我们了解肿瘤以及如何治疗肿瘤方面发挥着重要作用。胸苷激酶 1（TK1）是一种参与 DNA 修复的增殖标志物，已被证明具有独立的预后潜力。这种预后潜力包括一个新的概念，即血清 TK1 水平的上调是癌症发展的早期事件。这种相同的效应也可能在肿瘤组织中看到。为了证明 TK1 的上调是肿瘤组织形成的早期事件，我们获得了组织阵列，并通过免疫组织化学染色来检测 TK1。使用渐进式乳腺组织阵列，包括乳腺腺病、单纯性增生和非典型性增生在内的癌前组织均对 TK1 表达呈阳性染色。乳腺癌组织的不同阶段也对 TK1 呈阳性染色，包括非特异性浸润性导管癌、浸润性小叶癌和伴有淋巴结转移的浸润性导管癌。这表明 TK1 的上调是乳腺癌发展的早期事件，可能有助于识别癌前组织。需要进一步的工作来更好地理解 TK1 阳性和阴性组织之间的差异。
