The tumor marker TPS™ is a reliable indicator of tumor cell activity. Compared with conventional tumor mass markers, the activity marker TPS™ provides the clinician with earlier signals about the course of the disease.The TPS™ assay is particularly useful in treatment monitoring and patient follow-up.
Identify changes in tumor cell activity with TPS™
The activity tumor marker TPS™ (Tissue Polypeptide Specific Antigen) is particularly useful in patient management for different carcinomas; in establishing prognosis, in treatment monitoring and in patient follow-up.
TPS™ provides the clinician with a reliable indicator of the course of the disease, measured in terms of tumor cell activity and not tumor burden. Decreasing levels during therapy indicate response and increasing levels, at clinically stable disease or partial remission, predict disease progression with a considerable leadtime. The ability to add this valuable information to the clinical picture supports both an earlier evaluation of treatment efficiency, as well as a more accurate prediction of clinical outcome.
Performance characteristics are well defined for patients with epithelial cell carcinomas, e.g. breast, prostate, ovarian, and gastrointestinal cancer.
TPS™ in Cancer Patient Management - Clinical Utility
Breast Cancer - By serial assays, TPS™ can be used for therapy control and follow-up of breast cancer patients. The sensitivity of TPS™ to detect progressive disease is particularly high in patients with metastatic spread, where pretreatment TPS™ levels have been shown to be related to prognosis.
Prostate Cancer - The androgen-independent TPS™ marker can provide the clinican with an important complementary tool to PSA, espe- cially in patients following adjuvant androgen- suppressive hormonal therapy. TPS™ has been shown to clearly differentiate between stable and progressive disease and may thus be used as an early indicator of the efficacy of treatment.
Ovarian Cancer - TPS™ can be used as a prognostic indicator of clinical outcome in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Elevated TPS™ levels after three chemotherapy courses have been shown to significantly correlate with low one- and two-year overall survival.
The ability to detect change can provide crucial information
The ability of TPS™ to accurately predict disease status prior to conventional methods offers a reliable tool for more efficient disease treatment and early decision making. By following the patient with repeated assays of TPS™, both during treatment and at follow-up, the clinician may obtain critical information about tumor activity, particularly in cases where the presence of a tumor is already known and during follow-up in early detection of recurrence.
The precise measurement of a well-defined peptide
The TPS™ test is a monoclonal assay that measures the reactivity against a well-defined epitope structure on cytokeratin 18, the M3 epitope. The cytokeratins (intermediate filament proteins) are epithelial cell-specific. During the transformation of normal cells into malignant cells, the cytokeratin patterns are usually maintained. Cytokeratins are present in the circulation as partially degraded single protein fragments in small complexes or as large polymeric protein complexes.
TPS™ Technical Data
The TPS™ assay is available as IRMA, ELISA and bead EIA technology formats. The specificity of the assay was analyzed by immunohistochemistry, gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting.
The monoclonal antibodies used in the test are specific for TPS™, without detectable cross reactivity to other tumor associated antigens that may be present in patients.
TPS™ Methodology
ELISA Assay procedure - Soluble fragments of cytokeratin 18 are reacted with a microplate well coated with affinity purified antibodies simultaneously with a HRP-conjugated monoclonal antibody (M3).
IRMA Assay procedure - Soluble fragments of cytokeratin 18 are reacted with a bead coated with affinity purified antibodies simultaneously with a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody (M3).
TPS™
A tumor marker for Total Care Management
TPS™ is a reliable indicator of tumor cell activity, especially useful in treatment monitoring and patient follow-up.
TPS™ is particularly useful in patient management for carcinomas of different origin.
TPS™ provides the clinician with earlier signals (long lead-time) about the course of the disease when compared to clinical criteria.
TPS™ in combination with conventional tumor mass markers gives a more complete clinical picture, thus making it possible for the clinician to act with greater insight.
TPS™ serves as a tool for the prediction of treatment outcome.
TPS™ shows a high sensitivity for metastatic disease.
TPS™ supports therapeutical decisions to optimize patient management and improve the cost/benefit ratio.
TPS™ is a monoclonal immunoassay with reactivity against the well-defined M3-epitope structure on cytokeratin 18.
Courtesy of iDL