Serum metallothionein - a potential oncomarker?

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Oncology
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Metallothionein (MT) is overexpressed in various tumor types and elevated in cancer patient circulation.
• Previous studies suggest MT's potential as a biomarker in oncologic practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and verify the applicability of metallothionein (MT) as a diagnostic marker in current oncologic practice.
• To summarize existing research on MT blood levels in cancer patients.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of full-text articles from PubMed and Google Scholar.
• Inclusion of 8 prospective randomized trials with 561 blood samples from diverse malignancies.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in blood MT levels were confirmed between cancer patients and healthy individuals.
• No specific MT level was found to be unequivocally predictive of oncologic disease.
• Elevated MT in blood serum of patients with solid malignancy is a promising finding.

Conclusions:

• Elevated blood MT in solid malignancy patients shows promise as a tumor marker.
• Further research on larger patient cohorts is required to establish clinical practice recommendations for MT.