Extracellular cAMP-dependent protein kinase (ECPKA) in melanoma

Kita, Tsunekazu; Goydos, James; Reitman, Elena; Ravatn, Roald; Lin, Yong; Shih, Wei-Chung; Kikuchi, Yoshihiro; Chin, Khew-Voon

doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2004.02.018

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Volume 208, Issue 2 , Pages 187-191, 28 May 2004

Extracellular cAMP-dependent protein kinase (ECPKA) in melanoma

Tsunekazu Kita
- Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Chemical Biology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, 164 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan
James Goydos
- Department of Surgery, School of Public Health; Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA
Elena Reitman
- Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Chemical Biology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, 164 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
Roald Ravatn
- Informax, Frederick, MD, USA
Yong Lin
- Division of Biometrics, School of Public Health; Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA
Wei-Chung Shih
- Division of Biometrics, School of Public Health; Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA
Yoshihiro Kikuchi
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan
Khew-Voon Chin
- Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Chemical Biology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, 164 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-732-445-3400x253; fax: +1-732-445-0687

Received 17 October 2003; received in revised form 18 February 2004; accepted 19 February 2004.

Abstract

Melanoma is one of the fastest rising malignancies in the United States. When detected early, primary melanomas are curable through surgery. However, despite significant improvements in diagnosis and surgical, local and systemic therapy, mortality rate in metastatic melanoma remains high. Furthermore, genetic alterations associated with the development and stepwise progression of melanoma, are still unclear. Previous reports show that the catalytic kinase subunit of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase is secreted by tumor cells and can be detected in the serum of cancer patients. We examine in this report the clinical significance of this secreted C subunit kinase termed extracellular protein kinase (ECPKA) in melanoma patients. Our results showed the presence of ECPKA activity in the serum of melanoma patients and correlate with the appearance and size of the tumor. Most importantly, surgical removal of melanoma causes a precipitous decrease in ECPKA activity in the sera of patients, suggesting that ECPKA may be a novel predictive marker in melanoma.

Keywords: Catalytic subunit, Serum, Biomarker, Diagnosis