Serum thymidine kinase activity in clinically healthy and diseased horses: A potential marker for lymphoma

• Serum thymidine kinase (sTK) activity is a tumour marker used as a prognostic indicator for lymphoma in humans, dogs and cats. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of sTK as a biomarker for lymphoma in horses. Serum samples were collected from clinically normal horses (n = 37), horses with lymphoma (n = 23), horses with non-haematopoietic neoplasia (n = 9) and horses with inflammatory disease (n = 14). sTK was measured using a radioenzyme assay. A reference cut-off value of <2.7 U/L (mean + 2 standard deviations, SDs) was established using data from clinically normal horses. sTK activity (mean +/- SD) was 26.3 +/- 91.5 U/L (range 0.8-443 U/L) for horses with lymphoma, 2.3 +/- 1.4 U/L (range 0.6-5.7 U/L) for horses with non-haematopoietic neoplasia and 1.5 +/- 0.6 U/L (range 0.6-2.8 U/L) for horses with inflammatory disease. Horses with lymphoma had significantly higher sTK activity than horses without clinical signs of disease (P<0.01), horses with inflammatory disease (P<0.01) and horses with non-haematopoietic neoplasia (P<0.05). sTK activity is a potentially useful biomarker for equine lymphoma. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Veterinärmedicin -- Klinisk vetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Veterinary Science -- Clinical Science (hsv//eng)

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