A preliminary study of CA15-3, c-erbB-2, epidermal growth factor receptor,cathepsin-D, and p53 in saliva among women with breast carcinoma

A panel of markers used to aid il I the diagnosis and treatment of breast c ancer was examined in the saliva of a cohort of healthy women, women with b enign lesions of the bl east, and women with diagnosed breast cancer. We fo und recognized tumor markers c-erbB-2 (erb), cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3), and tumor suppressor onco-gene protein 53 (p53) in the saliva of all three groups of women. The levels of erb and CA15-3 in the cancer patients evalua ted, however, were significantly higher than the salivary levels of healthy control subjects and benign tumor patients. Conversely, pantropic p53 leve ls were higher in control subjects compared with those women with breast ca ncer and those with benign tumors. Although cathepsin-D and epidermal growt h factor receptor were detected they did not demonstrate arty clear correla tion with disease status. The results of the pilot suggest that these marke rs have potential use in initial detection and/or follow-up screening for t he detection of breast cancel in women.