The monitoring of serum factors in patients with cancer

Latent tuberculosis: interaction of virulence factors in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a prominent health concern worldwide. Besides extensive research and vaccinations available, attempts to control the pandemic are cumbersome due to the complex physiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Alongside the emergence of drug-resistant TB, latent TB has worsened the condition. The tubercle bacilli are unusually behaved and successful with its strategies to modulate genes to evade host immune system and persist within macrophages. Under latent/unfavorable conditions, Mtb conceals itself from immune system and modulates its genes. Among many intracellular modulated genes, important are those involved in cell entry, fatty acid degradation, mycolic acid synthesis, phagosome acidification inhibition, inhibition of phagosome-lysosome complex and chaperon protein modulation. Though the study on these genes date back to early times of TB, an insight on their inter-relation within and to newly evolved genes are still required. This review focuses on the findings and discussions on these genes, possible mechanism, credibility as target for novel drugs and repurposed drugs and their interaction that enables Mtb in survival, pathogenesis, resistance and latency.

Tennessee antigen: its value in the monitoring of patients with colorectal cancer

Serial estimations of serum Tennessee antigen have been performed at regular three-month intervals on 35 patients with colorectal cancer who had undergone resection of all macroscopically obvious tumor but who were considered to be at high risk of developing subsequent metastases. The results were interpreted by a panel of surgeons in order to assess the clinical relevance of using serum Tennessee antigen for monitoring of patients. The serial estimation of serum Tennessee antigen was found to be very variable, difficult to interpret, and clinically unreliable as an accurate marker for the development of recurrent cancer in this group of patients. There are unacceptably high false-positive and false-negative diagnostic rates for serum Tennessee antigen estimations in comparison with serial estimations of carcinoembryonic antigen.

Biologic markers and breast cancer: a multiparametric study--1. Increased serum protein levels

From early 1972 to the end of 1976, the profiles of several serum protein were used to monitor disease stage and prognosis of 207 patients with breast cancer. Six of these proteins, alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha-AT), alpha 2-ceruloplasmin (Cp), beta 1-transferrin, IgA, C4, and C5, were significantly elevated in these cancer patients and were used as biologic markers in a multiparametric study. Among these breast cancer patients, 72% had at least two of these protein levels elevated, of which alpha-AT (55%), C5 (38%), and IgA (36%) levels were most commonly raised. The number of elevated proteins was parallel to disease progression as 61% (Group 1) and 74% (Group 2) of the patients with operable breast cancer and 90% of patients with metastatic disease showed an elevation of two or more of these nonspecific proteins. There was also a positive correlation between the number of elevated proteins and prognosis; of the 26 patients who died during the five-year follow-up, only four (15%) had no more than one protein level elevated, and 22 (85%) had two or more protein levels elevated. On the other hand, when considered as a group, patients with no or only one protein level elevated had a better prognosis than patients with two or more levels elevated (P less than 0.03). This multiparametric study tends to indicate that the high level of these serum proteins, reflecting an abnormal biochemical profile, provides valuable information that relates to the stage of the disease and patients' prognosis. Results also suggest that these proteins may aid in differentiating the group with high recurrent risks from that with a more favorable prognosis for a given clinical and pathologic stage, illustrating their importance as biologic markers in breast cancer.