Expression of thymidine kinase 1 in serum of patients with breast carcinoma and its clinical significance

Objective To investigate the influence of surgery on the level of thymidine kinase 1(TK1) in the serum of patients with breast carcinoma detecting its serum level.Methods Sensitive chemiluminescence dot-blot assay was used to detect the serum TK1 levels of 33 healthy women and 65patients with breast carcinoma.The clinical implications were also analyzed.The serum TK1 levels of 38 patients with breast carcinoma were compared between before and after the operatiou.Results The serum TK1 level was higher in the patients with breast carcinoma than in the healthy women,with a statistical difference(P ＜ 0.01).Serum TK1 level didn' t correlated with age and pathologic types but correlated with clinical stage; the serum TK1 level was higher in stage Ⅳ patients than in stage Ⅲ,in stage Ⅲ than in stage Ⅱ,and in stage Ⅱ than in stage Ⅰ (P ＜ 0.01,P ＜ 0.05).The level of serum TK1 was obviously reduced in patients with breast carcinoma after the operation(P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions The serum TK1 levels in patients with breast carcinoma are higher; it could be an indicator assessing the disease status,therapeutic effect,and the prognosis of breast carcinoma. Key words: Thymidine kinase 1;  Breast carcinoma;  Operation