delta IK17 antigen: a possible early marker of cancer development

delta IK17 is a 44 kD molecule located on the surface of T, B and NK cells in normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) (1). The portion of PBMC expressing delta IK17 was determined in 52 patients with benign breast diseases, 182 patients with breast malignancies and 132 healthy individuals. The percentage of delta IK17-positive cells was significantly lower in the early stages (I-IIA) of malignancy compared to that of healthy donors. However, the percentage of PBMC expressing delta IK17 tended to increase as the stage of the disease advanced. delta IK17 seems to be the only antigen among the other cellular markers tested (CD2, CD4, CD8, HLA-DR) with a statistically significant correlation between a low percentage of positive cells and the early stages of malignancy and between a high expression and advanced disease. Its potential use as a tumor marker in breast cancer is discussed here.