Are mesothelin and L1CAM useful biomarkers in primary ovarian cancer patients?

Abstract

e15559 Background: We evaluated the impact of mesothelin, a cell surface glycoprotein and tumor differentiation antigen, and L1CAM, a cell adhesion molecule, involved in tumor progression and apoptosis in serum samples of 154 patients with first diagnosis of primary ovarian cancer. It was the purpose of the study to (a) correlate these novel biomarkers and CA12-5 levels with the presence of disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in the bone marrow (BM) and clinical parameters and (b) evaluate their prognostic value with regard to disease-free-survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Methods: DTC were detected in bilateral BM aspirates (10mL) using density gradient centrifugation and immunocytochemistry, applying the anti-CK antibody A45-B/B3. Serum mesothelin and L1-CAM were determined using commercial ELISA-kits (DRG). Mesothelin-positivity was defined as >2.0 nmol, L1CAM-positivity as >10 ng/mL and CA12-5 elevation as >35 U/mL, respectively. Results: 22/154 (14%) patients were platinum-resistent with a signifi...