Abstract
Background: The role of serum tumour markers is to reveal tumours not yet visible by imaging techniques. Here we examine the use of serum thymidine kinase 1 protein (STK1) in health screening. Patients and Methods: Persons (n=11,880) participating in health screening programs in China, during 2005-2007, were tested for STK1. STK1 was measured by a sensitive chemiluminescence dot-blot assay. Medical examination of participants was carried out in parallel. Results: The proportion of STK1-positive (>2 pM) individuals was 0.5%, corresponding to the cancer incidence rate of China. No malignant cases were found in the STK1-negative group, but two pre-malignant and one malignant case were found in the STK1-positive group. The low frequency of malignancies found was probably due to the relatively young population (mean age 40.4±13.4 years). In the STK1-positive group, there were 24% of persons with benign diseases (breast, liver, kidney), 37% with proliferative tissues (breast, prostate), 13% with fatty liver, 9% with inflammatory reactions/virus infections (three hepatitis B virus-positive persons) and 17% showed other types of physiological changes not directly related to proliferation. In the STK1-positive group, a significantly (p<0.001) higher proportion of persons with proliferation of breast and prostate tissues were found (37%), as compared to the STK1-negative group (18%). Furthermore, the mean ages among the groups of persons with STK1-positive values were between 5-8 years higher, as compared to the STK1 negative group, due to higher mean ages of persons with proliferative breast and prostate tissues. Thus, 83% of the STK1-positive persons had diseases (benign, proliferation tissues, fatty liver, helicobacter pylori-positive and hepatitis B virus-positive) related to malignancies. Conclusion: STK1-values >2 pM may indicate an early risk for development of malignancies years later.
- Thymidine kinase 1
- TK1
- health screening
- benign
- cancer
- malignancy
- tumour
- fatty liver
- inflammation
- infection
- virus
Footnotes
- Received May 2, 2008.
- Revision received July 15, 2008.
- Accepted September 8, 2008.
- Copyright© 2008 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved