Usefulness of Serum Thymidine Kinase 1 as a Biomarker for Aggressive Clinical Behavior in B-cell Lymphoma.
- Author:
Heyjin KIM
1
;
Hye Jin KANG
;
Jin Kyung LEE
;
Young Jun HONG
;
Seok Il HONG
;
Yoon Hwan CHANG
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Thymidine kinase 1; B-cell lymphoma; Serum biomarker
- MeSH: B-Lymphocytes*; Bone Marrow; Cell Proliferation; Diagnosis; Hematologic Neoplasms; Humans; Immunoassay; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; Luminescence; Lymphocyte Count; Lymphoma, B-Cell*; Reference Values; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Thymidine Kinase*; Thymidine*
- From:Laboratory Medicine Online 2016;6(1):25-30
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
- Abstract: BACKGROUND: The cell cycle-dependent enzyme thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) is known to increase during cancer cell proliferation and has been reported as a prognostic marker for various hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. This study aimed to determine the reference interval in Korean healthy controls and to evaluate the usefulness of TK1 as a biomarker for aggressive clinical behavior in B-cell lymphoma patients. METHODS: We enrolled 72 previously untreated patients with B-cell lymphoma and 143 healthy controls. Serum TK1 levels were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay (Liaison(R), DiaSorin, USA). We established the reference intervals in healthy controls. The diagnostic performance of serum TK1 was studied using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and the correlation between the cutoff level for serum TK1 and clinical characteristics of B-cell lymphoma was evaluated. RESULTS: The reference range (95th percentile) of serum TK1 in healthy controls was 5.4-21.8 U/L. There was a clear difference in TK1 levels between patients with B-cell lymphoma and healthy controls (40.6+/-68.5 vs. 11.8+/-4.4 U/L, P<0.001). The area under the curve of serum TK1 for the diagnosis of B-cell lymphoma was 0.73 (cutoff, 15.2 U/L; sensitivity, 59.7%; specificity, 83.2%). An increased TK1 level (> or =15.2 U/L) correlated with the advanced clinical stage (P<0.001), bone marrow involvement (P=0.013), international prognostic index score (P=0.001), lactate dehydrogenase level (P=0.001), low Hb level (<12 g/dL) (P=0.028), and lymphocyte count (P=0.023). CONCLUSIONS: The serum TK1 level could serve as a useful biomarker for aggressive clinical behavior in B-cell lymphoma patients.
