[Induction of manganese superoxide dismutase in ovarian carcinoma]

A monoclonal antibody against manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) was assessed for its use in detecting a marker for epithelial ovarian carcinoma. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay has been developed to detect serum Mn-SOD. With this assay, only 1.7% of the 240 healthy females tested had more than 130 ng per milliliter of serum Mn-SOD. In contrast, 39 of 66 patients (59.1%) with epithelial ovarian carcinoma showed high levels of Mn-SOD. The serum Mn-SOD increased according to the clinical stage and declined to reflect the effect of therapy. The determination of Mn-SOD levels proved to be a clinical useful marker for monitoring the response to treatment and to early detection of the recurrence of epithelial ovarian carcinomas.