Table 1 Characteristics of selected biomarkers
From: CD44, TGM2 and EpCAM as novel plasma markers in endometrial cancer diagnosis
Marker | Function | Cancers | References |
|---|---|---|---|
ALDH1A1 | stem-like cells biomarker involved in dehydrogenation of aldehydes to their corresponding carboxylic acids; plays role in differentiation, proliferation and motility | ovarian, breast, head and neck lung colorectal endometrial (ICH study) | Rahadiani et al. [5] |
CA9 | transmembrane HIF- 1훼-dependent glycoprotein responsible for the regulation of pH in the tumor microenvironment | colorectal, gastric, endometrial | |
CD44 | hyaluronic acid receptor, responsible for cell adhesion; affects carcinogenesis through cell migration and metastasis initiation; cancer stem cell marker | breast, pancreatic, gastric, hepatocellular, bladder, biliary, vulvar, endometrial (ICH study) | Wojciechowski et al. [8], Elbasateeny et al. [9], Yan et al. [10] |
EpCAM | calcium-independent homophilic cell adhesion molecule of 39–42 kDa, frequently and highly expressed on carcinomas, tumor-initiating cells, selected tissue progenitors, and embryonic and adult stem cells | ovarian, breast, uterine serous cancer | |
Hepsin | a type II transmembrane serine protease originally identified in the human liver as a cDNA clone; Hepsin mRNA is highly expressed in normal liver tissues, while it is poorly expressed in other tissues, including normal kidney, pancreas, lung, thyroid, pituitary gland and testis | prostate, renal, ovarian, endometrial | El-Rebey et al. [13] Matsuo et al. [14] |
Kallikrein 6 | serine protease with roles in diverse cellular activities, including blood coagulation, wound healing, digestion, and immune responses as well as tumor invasion and metastasis | ovarian, uterine serous cancer | Santin et al. [15] Dorn et al. [16] |
L1CAM | a neuronal cell adhesion transmembrane protein with a strong implication in cell migration, adhesion, neurite outgrowth, myelination and neuronal differentiation; plays a role in migration, invasion, growth metastasis and chemoresistance. | ovarian, breast, gastric, melanoma, endometrial, esophageal, colorectal, pancreatic, prostate, neuroblastoma | Bosse et al. [17] Pasanen et al. [18] Zeimet et al. [19] Tangen et al. [20] |
Mesothelin | a cell-surface glycoprotein with normal expression limited to mesothelial cells lining the pleura, peritoneum; the biologic role that MSLN plays in these cells remains unclear; in cancer it increases cellular resistance to anoikis, upregulates matrix metalloproteinases important in cellular invasion and metastasis, and induces secretion of autocrine growth factors | malignant mesothelioma, pancreatic, ovarian, lung, endometrial cancer, biliary gastric, pediatric acute myeloid leukemia | Dainty et al. [21] Obulhasim et al. [22] |
Midkine | a secreted, heparin-binding growth factor; a 13- kDa protein rich in basic amino acids and cysteine; is highly expressed during embryo- genesis; in the adult, the highest transcript levels are in the intestine with low levels in the cerebellum, thyroid, kidney, bladder, lung alveoli, colon, stomach, and spleen; has a role in oncogenic transformation of fibroblasts, antiapoptotic activity, and angiogenic activity | breast, lung, esophagus, colon, ovary, urinary bladder, and prostate, glioblastoma, neuroblastoma, Wilms’ tumor | Tanabe et al. [23] |
TGM2 | predominantly a cytosolic protein, also present in the nucleus, plasma membrane and in the extracellular environment; a marker of cancer development and cancer stem cell-survival | ovarian, breast, pancreatic, prostate, glioma, melanoma, lung, colon, leukemia | Li et al. [24] Eckert et al. [25] |