Mucin-1 and its relation to grade, stage and survival in ovarian carcinoma patients.

Background: Mucin-1 is known to be over-expressed by various human carcinomas and is shed into the circulation where it can be detected in patient's serum by specific anti-Mucin-1 antibodies, such as the tumour marker assays CA 15-3 and CA 27.29. The prognostic value of Mucin-1 expression in ovarian carcinoma remains uncertain.

Lack of prognostic relevance of Her-2/neu, topoisomerase IIα and EGFR in advanced ovarian carcinoma.

Patients with advanced ovarian cancer (FIGO stage III) have a poor clinical prognosis. However, these patients show distinct differences in their survival time, possibly due to differing responses to chemotherapy and differing tumor biology. In contrast to histological subtype, grading and staging, which are known to affect a patient's prognosis, the impact of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2/neu), topoisomerase IIα and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on survival remain inconclusive.

Her-2/neu and topoisomerase IIα in advanced breast cancer: a comprehensive FISH analysis of 245 cases.

Her-2/neu gene amplification is an established prognostic factor in breast cancer, and Her-2/neu protein is the target of the therapeutic monoclonal antibody Herceptin. More recently, topoisomerase IIα became a new focus of breast cancer research because of its role as a target for anthracycline therapy. Therefore, we compared Her-2/neu and topoisomerase IIα amplification/deletion in a large series of advanced breast cancer using fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Expression of the carbohydrate tumour marker Sialyl Lewis A, Sialyl Lewis X, Lewis Y and Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen in normal squamous epithelium of the uterine cervix, cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer.

The carbohydrate molecules Sialyl Lewis X (SLeX), Sialyl Lewis A (SLeA), Lewis Y (LeY) and Thomsen-Friedenreich antigen (TF) are known to mediate the adhesion between tumor cells and endothelium. They are used as serum markers in diagnosis and treatment in a broad spectrum of human carcinomas, but their expression profile and role in the development of cervical cancer remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of SLeX, SLeA, LeY and TF in normal cervical squamous epithelium, cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer.