Moskal T L, Huang S, Ellis L M, Fritsche H A, Chakrabarty S
Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030, USA.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1995 Mar;4(2):127-31.
Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha), a polypeptide growth-stimulating factor, has been implicated to play a role in the progression of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. It has been suggested that TGF alpha expression in tumors or TGF alpha in the biological fluids of cancer patients may have tumor marker value. The serum levels of TGF alpha in GI cancer patients have not been reported. In this study, the serum TGF alpha levels of 100 GI cancer patients, as well as 74 healthy individuals, were determined by a TGF alpha-specific RIA kit. All of the cancer patient sera and 67% of the normal sera had detectable levels of TGF alpha. The TGF alpha concentrations in GI cancer patients ranged from 119 to 760 pg/ml, with a mean value of 269 +/- 102 pg/ml. Fifty normal individuals had detectable levels of TGF alpha, and their levels ranged from 120 to 207 pg/ml, with a mean value of 147 +/- 18 pg/ml. Differences in serum TGF alpha concentration between cancer patients and healthy individuals were found to be statistically significant, as evaluated by Mann-Whitney and Student's t tests. Serum TGF alpha levels were found to be significantly elevated in all disease stages of gastric, pancreas, colon, and rectal cancers, and only in the late stages of esophageal cancer. Serum carcinoembryonic antigen levels were significantly elevated only in the late stages of these diseases. The potential of serum TGF alpha as a tumor marker for GI malignancy, therefore, warrants further investigation.
转化生长因子α（TGFα）是一种多肽生长刺激因子，被认为在胃肠道（GI）癌的进展中起作用。有人提出肿瘤中TGFα的表达或癌症患者生物体液中的TGFα可能具有肿瘤标志物价值。胃肠道癌患者血清中TGFα的水平尚未见报道。在本研究中，使用TGFα特异性放射免疫分析试剂盒测定了100例胃肠道癌患者以及74例健康个体的血清TGFα水平。所有癌症患者血清和67%的正常血清中均可检测到TGFα。胃肠道癌患者的TGFα浓度范围为119至760 pg/ml，平均值为269±102 pg/ml。50例正常个体可检测到TGFα水平，其范围为120至207 pg/ml，平均值为147±18 pg/ml。通过Mann-Whitney检验和Student's t检验评估发现，癌症患者与健康个体之间血清TGFα浓度差异具有统计学意义。在胃癌、胰腺癌、结肠癌和直肠癌的所有疾病阶段，血清TGFα水平均显著升高，而仅在食管癌的晚期升高。血清癌胚抗原水平仅在这些疾病的晚期显著升高。因此，血清TGFα作为胃肠道恶性肿瘤肿瘤标志物的潜力值得进一步研究。
