Increased plasma concentrations of anterior gradient 2 protein are positively associated with ovarian cancer

AGR2 expression in ovarian tumours: a potential biomarker for endometrioid and mucinous differentiation

“…19 In contrast, in our larger series AGR2 was expressed in nonneoplastic ovarian epithelium in 31% of samples. 19 In contrast, in our larger series AGR2 was expressed in nonneoplastic ovarian epithelium in 31% of samples.…”

“…6 Type I carcinomas are indolent tumours, characterised by recognisable precursor lesions, notably benign and borderline tumours or endometriosis, whilst Type II carcinomas are highly aggressive, often lack detectable precursor lesions and are most commonly high grade serous in type. One previous study has shown more frequent expression of AGR2 in a small cohort of ovarian tumours compared with non-neoplastic ovarian surface epithelium 19 and one further study indicated that AGR2 was more commonly expressed in ovarian mucinous carcinomas compared with serous carcinomas. Type II cancers are associated with TP53 mutations and aberrations in the p16(INK4A)/RB1 pathway, whilst Type I cancers and their precursor lesions are associated with a variety of mutations in genes involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction pathway, such as KRAS, BRAF and ERBB2, together with signalling molecules (e.g., PTEN and CTNNB1).…”

“…[6][7][8] The molecular pathogenesis of Type I and II cancers also appears distinct. 20 Increased plasma concentrations of AGR2 have been positively associated with ovarian cancer, including early-stage disease 19 and over-expression of AGR2 in ovarian cancer cells has been shown to promote their proliferation and migration. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] AGR2, the human homologue of the cement gland-specific gene, XAG2, originally identified in the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), 18 has been recently identified as a potential biomarker of ovarian cancer.…”

Effects of ER-resident and secreted AGR2 on cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and survival in PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cells

“…Because AGR2 has a strong link with carcinogenesis and tumor dissemination, it has been widely recognized as a proto-oncogene [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Overexpression of AGR2 has been reported in multiple solid human tumors, including breast, prostate, ovarian, lung, esophageal, gastric, colorectal and pancreatic cancers, suggesting it could be a unique biomarker in these tumors [4,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Accumulating evidence suggests that AGR2 is a secretory molecule; its protein levels are found to be elevated in blood samples in several types of cancer patients [8,15,16,20,21] and the urine of prostate cancer patients [22].…”

“…Overexpression of AGR2 has been reported in multiple solid human tumors, including breast, prostate, ovarian, lung, esophageal, gastric, colorectal and pancreatic cancers, suggesting it could be a unique biomarker in these tumors [4,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Accumulating evidence suggests that AGR2 is a secretory molecule; its protein levels are found to be elevated in blood samples in several types of cancer patients [8,15,16,20,21] and the urine of prostate cancer patients [22]. Moreover, it is associated with poor prognosis in some solid tumors [23][24][25][26], and has been detected in circulating tumor cells and cancer stem cells [27][28][29].…”