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MUC1 MARKER FOR THE DETECTION OF OVARIAN CANCER. A REVIEW

ANCA FLOREA, CECILIA CRISTEA, ROBERT SÃNDULESCU^*

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Cancer is one of the leading causes of death, ovarian cancer being the seventh leading cause of cancer-related death among women and is associated with the highest morbidity of all the of gynecologic malignancies. Early stage tumor diagnosis is essential for a positive outcome for the patients, therefore it is of paramount importance to develop new, sensitive detection methods for tumor markers found in serum in early stages, in order to improve cancer survival rate. Mucin 1 (MUC1) is a transmembrane protein, heavily O-glycosylated, found on the apical plasma membrane of most secretory epithelia. In case of malignant processes MUC1 loses its apical distribution, is underglycosylated and overexpressed and is secreted into the blood circulation [1]. MUC1 has been identified as a marker for preneoplastic lesions, elevated levels of MUC1 protein being involved in tumor progression, especially in the process of metastasis [2]. The detection of low levels of MUC1 tumor marker plays an important role in the diagnosis, screening and prognosis of the ovarian cancer, therefore improvement of detection methods for this cancer biomarker and development of new, sensitive methods of detection, such as biosensors, is needed.