Overview

• Clinical use
  • Monitor the effectiveness of cancer treatment
  • Detection of cancer recurrence
• Limitations
  • low sensitivity
  • low specificity
• Tumor markers are generally not used to screen for or diagnose cancer. However, once cancer has been diagnosed via biopsy, tumor markers can be used to predict therapeutic responses and monitor the effectiveness of cancer treatment.

Immunohistochemical markers

• Vimentin
  • Intermediate filament in the cytoskeleton of mesenchymal cells (e.g., macrophages, fibroblasts, endothelial cells)
    • Sarcomas
      • Sarcoma botryoides
      • Ewing sarcoma
      • Osteosarcoma
      • Chondrosarcoma
      • Soft tissue sarcomas (e.g., GIST, angiosarcoma, liposarcoma)
    • Endometrial carcinoma
    • Renal cell carcinoma
    • Meningioma
    • Mesothelioma
• Desmin
  • Intermediate filament in the cytoskeleton of smooth and skeletal muscle cells
    • Rhabdomyosarcoma
• Cytokeratin
  • Intermediate filament in the cytoskeleton of epithelial cells
    • Squamous cell carcinoma (e.g. of the skin or lung)