Cancer cell markers may be used to screen for presence of cancer, help determine the type of cancer and characteristics about it’s behavior. Some markers, called transcription factors, are proteins that turn specific genes “on” or “off” by binding to nearby sections of DNA.
BCR-ABL – gene mutation found in most patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), and in some patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)
c-MET – activates a wide range of different cellular signaling pathways, including those involved in proliferation, motility, migration and invasion
CD15 -hematologic origin cell marker, lymphocyte marker
CD19 – with CD45 positive hematologic origin cell marker; with CD45 negative lung / neuroedocrine tumor marker
CD30 – hematologic origin cell marker
CD31 – endothelial cell membrane antigen
CD34 – with CD45 positive hematologic origin cell marker; with CD45 negative epithelioid sarcoma marker
CD44 – tumor stem cell marker
CD45 – hematologic origin cell marker, present on cell membranes of lymphocytes, monocytes and blast cells except erythropoietic cells, plasma cells and mature megakaryocytes
CD63 – melanoma cell marker
CD99 – sarcoma marker
CD133 – tumor stem cell marker, associated with progenitor/stem cells, tumor, regeneration, differentiation, and metabolism – functions in cell growth, development and tumor biology
EpCam – epithelial cell adhesion molecule, important role in the prevention of cell-cell adhesion, cell signalling, migration, proliferation and differentiation
MUC-1 – breast cancer cell marker
Nanog – tumor stem cell marker, key regulator of embryonic development and cellular reprogramming, encourages tumor growth
OKT-4 – tumor stem cell marker, associated with self-renewal and differentiation-related factors in cancer stem cells
panCK – pancytokeratin, tumor stem cell marker showing cancer from epithelial cell origin, important for intracellular transport and physical cell properties
PSMA – prostate-specific membrane antigen, expressed in all types of prostate tissue and increased in prostate cancer tissue – also expressed in other cancers (conventional renal cell, transitional cell of the bladder, testicular-embryonal, neuroendocrine, colon, and breast)
PSA – prostate specific antigen, increased in prostate cancer tissue
Sox-2 – tumor stem cell marker, essential for maintaining self-renewal of stem cells, but over-expression promotes tumor growth
VHL mut – renal carcinoma marker
