Objective To study the abnormal expression of CK19,CK20 mRNA in the peripheral blood for epithelial malignancies patients,and to explore its clinical significance.Methods A total of 53 preoperative peripheral blood specimens were obtained from patients with epithelial malignancies.RT?PCR assay was applied to detect the expression of CK19,CK20 mRNA in the peripheral blood.As control,15 fresh tumor tissues and blood samples from 15 patients with inflammatory disease,were also obtained.Results The positivity for CK19 and CK20 mRNA expression were 35.8%(19/53) and 41.5%(22/53),respectively,69.8%(31/53) were positive of either one in peripheral bood from patients with epithelial cancers.In primary tumors,15 tumor tissues were all positive for CK20 mRNA,and 86%(13/15) were positive for CK19 mRNA.In blood samples from nonmalignant control subjects,2 were positive for CK19,and only one was positive for CK20.The expression of the two genes (CK19 and CK20) were significantly correlated with clinical pathologic stage,lymph node metastasis and depth of invasion,but had no coincidence with differentiation,sex and age of the patients.Conclusion These data indicate the CK19,CK20 mRNA expression may be potential biomarkers for detecting micrometastasis and recurrence in peripheral blood with epithelial cancers. |