Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2015 October, 237(2)

Elevated Serum Levels of SCUBE1, a Marker for Coagulation, in Patients with Breast Cancer

TURKAN OZTURK TOPCU,1 HALIL KAVGACI,1 FEYYAZ OZDEMIR,1 ASUDE AKSOY,2 DILEK ERDEM,3 AHMET MENTESE,4 HUSEYIN YAMAN,4 GULNIHAL TUFAN,5 ASIM OREM4 and FAZIL AYDIN1

1Division of Medical Oncology, Karadeniz Technical University School of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey
2Division of Medical Oncology, Firat University Hospital, Elazig, Turkey
3Division of Medical Oncology, Private Medical Park Hospital, Samsun, Turkey
4Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey
5Division of Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women and a major cause of death. Signal Peptide-Cub-Epidermal growth factor domain-containing protein-1 (SCUBE1) is secreted under hypoxia and inflammatory conditions from platelet alpha granules. Its biological function is uncertain, although it may be a procoagulant substance in cancer patients. SCUBE1 is useful for identifying thrombotic diseases, including cancers and acute coronary syndromes. D-dimer reflects the relationship between coagulation activation and fibrinolysis; namely, thrombosis and D-dimer levels are closely linked. This is the first investigation of the potential diagnostic and prognostic value of SCUBE1 levels in patients with BC. Fifty patients and 33 age-matched and body mass index-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Blood samples were collected before chemotherapy regimens commenced. Serum SCUBE1 and D-dimer levels were measured before adjuvant chemotherapy and were compared to the healthy controls. SCUBE1 levels were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. SCUBE1 and D-dimer levels were significantly higher in patients than in the controls (p = 0.03 and p < 0.001, respectively). A cut-off value of 1.55 ng/mL for SCUBE1 was associated with 62% sensitivity and 72.7% specificity and with positive predictive value of 77.5% and negative predictive value of 55.8%. Two patients with high SCUBE1 and D-dimer levels also developed pulmonary embolism. SCUBE1 may indicate hypercoagulability in patients with BC and thus help identify patients at greater risk of thrombosis and requiring anti-thrombosis treatment. SCUBE1 may also be used as an assistant test for identifying patients at risk of BC.

keywords —— breast cancer; cut-off value; D-dimer; SCUBE1; thrombosis

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2015, 237, 127-132

Correspondence: Turkan Ozturk Topcu, Division of Medical Oncology, Karadeniz Technical University School of Medicine, Trabzon 61080, Turkey.

e-mail: turkanozturktr@gmail.com