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Thrombospondin Levels in Patients with Malignancy
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Thrombospondin Levels in Patients with Malignancy

George P Tuszynski, Monica Smith, Vicki L Rothman, David M Capuzzi, Rosaline R Joseph, Julian Katz, Emmanuel C Besa, Joseph Treat, Hanna I Switalska and Michael D Smith
Thrombosis and haemostasis, v 67(6), pp 607-611
1992
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0038-1648509
PMID: 1509400
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Original Articles
Summary Thrombospondin (TSP), a large glycoprotein present in platelets, and various normal and tumor tissues, has recently been shown to promote cell adhesion and platelet aggregation. Most importantly because TSP has been shown to promote metastasis of melanoma tumor cells to the lung in a murine model (1) and since thromboembolic events commonly occur in patients afflicted with metastatic tumors, we explored the role of TSP in human cancer by measuring TSP blood levels in patients with various malignant neoplasms. Blood TSP levels were measured by indirect enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) from 20 control subjects, 22 patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, 18 patients with breast cancer, and 17 patients with lung cancer. Control subjects consisted both of healthy subjects and acutely ill patients with no malignancies. TSP levels of both healthy and acutely ill controls were found to range between 245-440 μg/ml with a mean of 365 μg/ml. In contrast, elevated levels of TSP greater than the mean value of 400 μg/ml for controls ranging between 590-3,650 μg/ml were found in 20/22 (91%) patients with GI malignancies, 13/18 (72%) patients with breast cancer, and 15/17 (88%) with lung cancer. Mean TSP levels of GI, breast, and lung cancer patients were 3, 2, and 3 fold greater than controls, respectively. Increased blood TSP levels in patients were not due to increased levels of platelets since both control and patient groups had platelet counts within the normal range. These results suggest that TSP may play a role in tumor cell metastasis in man and could serve as a blood marker for metastasis.

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Web of Science research areas
Hematology
Peripheral Vascular Disease
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