Expression of serum DKK-1 in esophageal cancer.

Objective To explore expression of DKK-1 in esophageal cancer and its clinical significance.Methods Serum DKK-1 was determined by sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(Elisa) in 80 patients with esophageal squamous cell cancer and in 35 healthy subjects.Sensitivities of serum DKK-1,CEA and CYFRA21-1 in esophageal squamous cell cancer were analyzed.Results Serum DKK-1 level in patients with esophageal squamous cell cancer was significantly higher than that of healthy subjects(P0.001).Based on the highest value of medicine reference of DKK-1(14.54 ng/ml),its sensitivity and specificity were 66.25% and 82.86%.There was a significant difference in sensitivity between esophageal cancers and healthy subjects(P0.01).Serum DKK-1 in esophageal squamous cell cancers was associated with tumor size,TNM stage and lymph node metastasis(P0.05),but not associated with gender,age and differentiation grade(P0.05).Sensitivity of DKK-1(66.25%) was significantly higher than that of CEA and CYFRA21-1(39.44%,25.35%,P0.01).Conclusion DKK-1 plays an important role in the growth and metastasis of esophageal cancer and may be a new tumor marker or an important index in diagnosis of esophageal cancer.