BMC Cancer (Jan 2009)

YKL-40 tissue expression and plasma levels in patients with ovarian cancer

  • Kjaer Susanne K,
  • Johansen Julia S,
  • Christensen Ib Jarle,
  • Høgdall Claus K,
  • Ringsholt Merete,
  • Høgdall Estrid VS,
  • Blaakaer Jan,
  • Ostenfeld-Møller Lene,
  • Price Paul A,
  • Christensen Lise H

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2407-9-8
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 1
p. 8

Abstract

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Abstract Background YKL-40 (chitinase-3-like-1) is a member of "mammalian chitinase-like proteins". The protein is expressed in many types of cancer cells and the highest plasma YKL-40 levels have been found in patients with metastatic disease, short recurrence/progression-free intervals, and short overall survival. The aim of the study was to determine the expression of YKL-40 in tumor tissue and plasma in patients with borderline ovarian tumor or epithelial ovarian cancer (OC), and investigate prognostic value of this marker. Methods YKL-40 protein expression was determined by immunohistochemistry in tissue arrays from 181 borderline tumors and 473 OC. Plasma YKL-40 was determined by ELISA in preoperative samples from 19 patients with borderline tumor and 76 OC patients. Results YKL-40 protein expression was found in cancer cells, tumor associated macrophages, neutrophils and mast cells. The tumor cell expression was higher in OC than in borderline tumors (p = 0.001), and associated with FIGO stage (p Conclusion YKL-40 in OC tissue and plasma are related to stage and histology, but only plasma YKL-40 is a prognostic biomarker in patients with OC.