Potential role of HE4 in multimodal screening for epithelial ovarian cancer.

In screening for epithelial ovarian cancer, unnecessary surgery can be reduced by limiting use of transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) to women with increasing CA125 serum levels. Replacing or augmenting TVU with measurement of a serum marker specific for malignancy might further improve screening performance. Serum samples from 112 invasive ovarian cancer patients and 706 matched control subjects from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian trial were used to evaluate human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), mesothelin, matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP7), SLPI, Spondin2, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) for their potential use in screening.

Influence of ovarian cancer risk status on the diagnostic performance of the serum biomarkers mesothelin, HE4, and CA125.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of ovarian cancer risk on the performance of the serum biomarkers mesothelin, human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), and CA125.

Methods: We measured mesothelin, HE4, and CA125 levels from women with invasive ovarian cancer (n = 143), benign gynecologic conditions (n = 124), and controls (n = 344). Demographic, epidemiologic, reproductive, medical, and family history data were collected using a standardized questionnaire.

Systematic evaluation of candidate blood markers for detecting ovarian cancer.

Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer is a significant cause of mortality both in the United States and worldwide, due largely to the high proportion of cases that present at a late stage, when survival is extremely poor. Early detection of epithelial ovarian cancer, and of the serous subtype in particular, is a promising strategy for saving lives. The low prevalence of ovarian cancer makes the development of an adequately sensitive and specific test based on blood markers very challenging.

Use of yeast-secreted in vivo biotinylated recombinant antibodies (Biobodies) in bead-based ELISA.

Purpose: To measure circulating antigens, sandwich ELISA assays require two complementary affinity reagents. Mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and polyclonal antibodies (pAb) are commonly used, but because their production is lengthy and costly, recombinant antibodies are emerging as an attractive alternative.

Experimental Design: We developed a new class of recombinant antibodies called biobodies (Bb) and compared them to mAb for use in serodiagnosis.