HE4 與卵巢癌的檢視

Diagnostic Value of Human Epididymis Protein 4 for Ovarian Cancer

卵巢癌乃婦癌中最難治、最複雜的病，且難早期診斷。最近在人類副睪丸中發現一種醣蛋白，稱人類副睪丸蛋白（HE4），且在卵巢癌細胞中也有過度顯示，但不存在於正常卵巢組織，故可用HE4來診治卵巢癌，單獨使用HE4來診斷上皮性卵巢癌，靈敏率比CA125更高，特異性更佳，不僅在區別良、惡性卵巢瘤十分有用，日後可成為血清篩檢卵巢癌的希望。

Finding a screening test for ovarian cancer is challenging because ovarian cancer is a complex disease. Recently, attention has been focused on a new biomarker called human epididymis protein 4(HE4), which was initially identified in the epithelium of the distal epididymis. It has been reported that HE4 is commonly over expressed in ovarian neoplastic tissue and it is elevated in the serum of patients with cancer of the ovary. Recently studies have demonstrated a high sensitivity and specificity of HE4 compared with CA125 especially at the onset of the disease. Serum HE4 detection is not only a useful preoperative test for predicting the benign or malignant ovarian tumors but also has a potential to screen the ovarian cancer.