Our work was undertaken to determine the usefulness ofYKL−40 as a tumor marker in patients with ovarian cancer and women with BRCA 1 gene mutations.

Our study population consisted of 111 patients. They were divided into five study groups: I—newly diagnosed ovarian caner, II—recurrence of ovarian cancer, III—complete remission, IV—benign epithelial tumors and V—patients with BRCA 1 gene mutations. YKL−40 and CA 125 were determined in patient sera.

YKL−40 in newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients was significantly higher (181.17 n/ml) than in patients with BRCA 1 gene mutation (97.74 ng/ml, p < 0.01), women with benign epithelial cancer (57.19 ng/ml, p < 0.005) and patients with ovarian cancer at the time of complete remission (58.12 ng/ml, p < 0.005). Taking 124 ng/ml as a cut−off value for YKL−40 (95th percentile for healthly women) we observed higher levels in 50% of patients from group I and in 38% from group II.

YKL−40 appears to demonstrate no advantage over CA 125 as a biomarker of ovarian cancer, particularly in women with early−stage tumors. More research is needed on carriers of the BRCA 1 gene muation in view of the elevated YKL−40 concentrations in this group.

PMID: 20099501 [PubMed − in process] Source: National Library of Medicine.