OSTEOPONTINA E MESOTELINA, DUE POSSIBILI BIOMARKERS DEL MESOTELIOMA MALIGNO: STUDIO PRELIMINARE

MALIGNANT MESOTHELIOMA IS A TUMOR WITH A POOR PROGNOSIS.RECENTLY DIFFERENT BIOMARKERS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED FOR DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF THIS MALIGNANCY; SOLUBLE MESOTHELIN RELATED PROTEINS (SMRP) AND OSTEOPONTIN (OPN) SEEM TO BE THE MOST PROMISING.IN THIS PRELIMINARY STUDY WE HAVE TESTED BOTH BIOMARKERS IN THE PLASMA OF 58 SUBJECTS: 9 AFFECTED BY MALIGNANT MESOTHELIOMA, 12 WITH ASBESTOSIS, 12 WITH PLEURAL PLAQUES, 6 WITHOUT PLEURAL OR PARENCHYMATOUS PATHOLOGY (ALL OF THESE HAVE EXPERIENCED OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS AND 19 HEALTHY SUBJECTS NOT EXPOSED TO ASBESTOS.IN THE GROUP OF MM, THE CONCENTRATIONS OF BIOMARKERS (SMRP MEAN VALUE: 2,59 nMol/L; OPN MEAN VALUE:183,13 ng/mg)ARE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN OTHER CATEGORIES, EITHER EXPOSED TO ASBESTOS OR NOT.OUR RESULTS SHOW THAT OPN APPEARS TO BE MORE SPECIFIC THAN SMRP, DIFFERENTLY THAN PREVIOUS EXPERIENCED: THE INFLUNCE OF ANALYTICAL METHOD, MEASURING THE OPN IN PLASMA AND NOT IN SERUM, NEEDS FURTHER EVALUATION