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Plasma glutathione S ‐transferase P1‐1 levels in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Ophuis Michael B. Oude,
Mulder Theo P. J.,
Peters Wilbert H. M.,
Manni Johannes J.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19980615)82:12<2434::aid-cncr18>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - medicine , gastroenterology , larynx , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , epidermoid carcinoma , liter , head and neck cancer , carcinoma , mucositis , pathology , cancer , chemotherapy , surgery
BACKGROUND Many tumors contain high amounts of the detoxification enzyme glutathione S ‐transferase P1‐1 (GSTP1‐1). Elevated levels of GSTP1‐1 have also been detected in serum and plasma from patients with gastrointestinal, lung, or head and neck tumors. The authors of this report evaluated the role of GSTP1‐1 as a plasma tumor marker in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) of the larynx, hypopharynx, or oropharnyx and in patients with benign head and neck lesions (BHNL). METHODS GSTP1‐1 levels were measured in EDTA plasma combined with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid using a recently developed sensitive and specific sandwich enzyme‐linked immunoadsorbent assay. A normal reference level with an upper limit of 21.8 μg GSTP1‐1 per liter of plasma was calculated from results obtained with samples from 230 blood donors. RESULTS Median GSTP1‐1 levels in samples from 53 patients with oral/oropharyngeal SCC (10.6 μg/L; range, 3.7‐46.1 μg/L), 12 patients with hypopharyngeal SCC (11.9 μg/L; range, 5.2‐146.6 μg/L), and 28 patients with laryngeal SCC (14.4 μg/L; range, 6.4‐141.5 μg/L) were significantly elevated when compared with plasma GSTP1‐1 levels in samples from 45 patients with BHNL (8.1 μg/L; range, 3.3‐32.3 μg/L; P < 0.0001, P < 0.01, and P < 0.0001, respectively). However, only 6 of 53 patients (11%) with oral/oropharyngeal SCC, 1 of 12 patients (8%) with hypopharyngeal SCC, and 6 of 28 patients (21%) with laryngeal SCC had plasma GSTP1‐1 levels above the upper limit of the normal reference level. Thus, only 13 of 93 patients (14%) with HNSCC had elevated plasma GSTP1‐1 levels overall. No significant relation between plasma GSTP1‐1 levels and TNM classification of the tumors was observed. CONCLUSIONS GSTP1‐1 is not a suitable plasma tumor marker for HNSCC. Cancer 1998;82:2434‐2438. © 1998 American Cancer Society.