Follistatin, a Novel Biomarker for Malignant Gliomas

Lekka, Elvira, Tsesmetzis, Nicolas, Ashton, Katherine M., Abel, Peter orcid iconORCID: 0000-0002-5221-7653, Davies, Charles, Hall, Gregory, Dawson, Timothy and Lea, Robert William (2015) Follistatin, a Novel Biomarker for Malignant Gliomas. Neuroscience and Medicine, 6 (3). pp. 121-129. ISSN 2158-2912

[thumbnail of Version of Record]
Preview
PDF (Version of Record) - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

1MB

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/nm.2015.63020

Abstract

Molecular biomarkers are commonly used for the management of several types of malignant tumours in routine clinical practice. However, this is not the case for malignant gliomas. Cytokines and Angiogenesis factors are potential candidates due to their intrinsic role in tumourigenesis. Pre- and post-operative serum from 36 malignant glioma patients and 36 controls was analysed using the Bio-Plex Pro Angiogenesis and Cytokines Assay (Bio-Rad, USA). Amongst the molecules tested, the serum concentration of follistatin was significantly higher in patients than in controls. Moreover, the serum concentration of follistatin of the patients postoperatively was significantly reduced compared to that preoperatively. Factors such as age and gender did not affect the concentrations of follistatin measured in the serum of patients pre- and post-operatively as well as healthy controls. This is the first report of follistatin as potential biomarker for the detection of malignant gliomas.


Repository Staff Only: item control page