Clinical significance of serum Dkk-3 in patients with gynecological cancer.

Aim: The expression of Dkk-3, as a number of the Dkk family was different in different cancer. Because Dkk-3 encodes a secreted protein, we investigated whether the Dkk-3 protein is secreted into the sera of patients with gynecological cancer.
Material & Methods: The levels of Dkk-3 protein were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the sera of 104 patients with gynecological cancer: 36 with ovarian, 40 with cervical and 28 with endometrial cancers.
Results: The serum levels of Dkk-3 protein in patients with ovarian cancer [25.54 (7.99) pg/mL] was lower than in normal individuals [42.08 (14.89) pg/mL] (P = 0.000). But serum levels of Dkk-3 protein in patients with cervical [166.39 (300.68) pg/mL] (P = 0.013) and endometrial cancers [73.64 (23.36) pg/mL] (P = 0.000) were higher than in normal individuals. The serum levels of Dkk-3 protein were associated with clinical stage in patients with cervical and endometrial cancers. In patients with ovarian cancer, the serum levels of Dkk-3 protein were associated with lymphatic metastasis. In patients with cervical cancer, the serum levels of Dkk-3 protein were associated with tumor diameters.
Conclusion: Dkk-3 protein detection using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay as molecular markers can contribute to detection and diagnosis of gynecological cancer, especially for ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer.