Elevated serum levels of transforming growth factor-α in breast cancer patients

Previous studies suggest that transforming growth factor-α (TGFα) may have the potential of a tumor marker. Since the levels of serum TGFα in cancer patients and healthy individuals have not been reported, we determined the serum TGFα levels of 83 breast cancer patients and 74 healthy individuals by using a TGFα radioimmunnoassay kit. All of the cancer patients sera were positive for TGFα; their TGFα concentrations ranged from 210 to 740 pg/ml, with a mean of 353 ± 98 pg/ml. Sixty-seven percent (50 cases) of normal sera were positive for TGFα; the levels ranged from 120 to 207 pg/ml, with a mean of 144 ± 17 pg/ml. The difference in serum TGFα levels between cancer patients of different disease stages and healthy individuals was found to be statistically significant by Student t-test and the Mann-Whitney test. No correlation was found between serum carcinoembryonic antigen and TGFα levels. The potential of serum immunoreactive TGFα as a marker for breast cancer warrants further investigation.