Mammaglobin A: A Promising Marker for Breast Cancer

Abstract
Most tumor markers in routine clinical practice lack organ specificity ( 1). For example, CA 15-3, BR 27.29, and carcinoembryonic antigen, which are widely used serum markers for breast cancer, can be increased in patients with most types of adenocarcinoma, especially if distant metastases are present [for a review, see Ref. ( 2)]. Using a modified differential display technique, Watson and Fleming ( 3)( 4) identified a novel gene that appeared to be expressed only in breast tissue. This gene, which was designated mammaglobin (MG), was found to encode a 93-amino acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 10.5 kDa ( 4).