FAVORABLE PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF TISSUE HUMAN KALLIKREIN 11 (hK11) IN PATIENTS WITH OVARIAN CARCINOMA

TLSP, encoded by the KLK11 gene) is a member of the kallikrein family of secreted serine proteases. Recently, we developed a highly sensitive and specific immunoassay for hK11 and found that this protease is expressed in the pros-tate, stomach and trachea as well as in amniotic fluid and milk of lactating women. Elevated serum hK11 levels were found in 60 % of men with prostate cancer and 70 % of women with ovarian cancer. Also, hK11 expression was found to be under the regulation of steroid hormones, particularly estro-gens, at the level of KLK11 transcription. We hypothesized that hK11 may be implicated in endocrine-related malignan-cies and serve as a novel prostate and ovarian cancer sero-logical marker. The aim of our study was to examine if hK11 expression in ovarian tumors bears any prognostic signifi-cance. The concentration of hK11 (ng per mg of total pro