Yasuyuki Satoh

C-erbB-2 protein in the sera of breast cancer patients

SummaryThe c-erbB-2 protein was measured in sera of patients with breast cancer or benign breast diseases to study the significance of this protein as a tumor marker. The mean value and positive rate for this protein (assuming 20 U/ml as the cut-off value) were 11.8 U/ml (0%) in benign breast disease (n=30), 11.8 U/ml (3.1%) in stage I/II primary breast cancer (n=64), 38.2 U/ml (29.4%) in stage III/IV primary breast cancer (n=17), 17.9 U/ml (33.3%) in locally recurrent breast cancer (n=12), 298.4 U/ml (51.0%) in recurrent breast cancer with distant metastases (n=51), and 12.9 U/ml (0%) in those with no evidence of recurrence (n=57). Thus, the serum c-erbB-2 protein level was significantly higher in the distant metastatic group. In patients with distant metastases, there was a close association between expression of c-erbB-2 protein in the primary tumor and the serum c-erbB-2 protein level. On the basis of these results, serum c-erbB-2 protein was thought to be useful as a tumor marker for postoperative monitoring of breast cancer, especially in patients positive for expression of this protein in primary cancer tissue.

Procollagen type III N-peptide and type IV collagen 7S-domain in the sera of breast cancer patients

We investigated the usefulness of serum levels of procollagen type III N-peptide (P III P) and the type IV collagen, 7S-domain, (IV-C) as markers of recurrent and metastatic breast cancer. Serum P III P and IV-C levels were found to be significantly higher in patients who showed postoperative recurrence, with 76.9% of P III P-positive cancer bearing patients and 68.0% of IV-C-positive cancer bearing patients having metastases in the bone and/or liver. Furthermore, 66.7% of all patients with metastases in the bone and/or liver were P III P-positive and 75.6% were IV-C-positive. Patients with liver metastases were either P III P- or IV-C-positive, and the levels were higher than those in patients with bone metastases. Thus, a positive correlation of serum P III P and IV-C levels was observed. These findings suggest that both serum P III P and IV-C levels are useful markers of recurrent and metastatic breast cancer, especially of disease in the bone and/or liver.