Elevated Serum Thymidine Kinase 1 Predicts Risk of Pre/Early Cancerous Progression

Background: Serological thymidine kinase 1 (STK1) is a reliable proliferation marker for prognosis,monitoring tumour therapy, relapse and detection of malignancies. In this study we investigate the use of STK1in health screening.
Methods: The concentration of STK1 was determined by a sensitive dot blot ECL assayin 8,135 persons participating in a health screening program.
Results: The frequency of persons with elevatedSTK1 (>2.0 pM) was 1.1%, representing diseases linked to pre/early cancerous progression. One person withmalignancy (gastric carcinoma) was found among persons with elevated STK1, but none of persons with normalSTK1 values. There was a significantly higher frequency of persons with moderate/severe type of hyperplasia ofbreast and prostate expressing elevated STK1, compared to persons with normal STK1 values. No significantdifference was found concerning mild hyperplasia. Of persons with elevated STK1, 89.2% had diseases linkedto risk for pre/early cancerous progression, compared to 41.2% of persons with normal STK1 values. Amongthe persons with elevated STK1 values, one developed liver carcinoma after 13 months and five persons showedprogression in their disease within 19 months (breast and prostate hyperplasia, HBV infection).
Conclusion:Serological TK1 may be a reliable marker for risk assessment of pre/early cancerous progression.