Abstract

Background ADAM metallopeptidase domain 12 (ADAM12) is generally upregulated in tissues of various tumors, emerging as a prognostic biomarker. However, the clinical significance of serum ADAM12 in tumors still remains to be fully elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the expression and prognostic value of serum ADAM12 in tumor patients. Materials and methods Serum samples were collected from healthy doners (HDs; n  = 87) and patients ( n  = 238) with a clinical diagnosis of breast, liver, lung, stomach and esophageal (STES) and thyroid cancer. Serum ADAM12 protein and mRNA expression was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. Receiver–operator characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to explored the prognostic value of serum ADAM12 expression. Results The expression of serum ADAM12 in breast and liver cancer patients was significantly upregulated compared with HDs. In patients with breast cancer, the levels of serum ADAM12 protein and mRNA were significantly higher in tumor stages than that in HDs ( p  < 0.05), with AUC value of 0.82. In liver cancer, elevated levels of serum ADAM12 protein were significantly correlated with clinical stage ( r  = 0.74; p  = 6.9e−4) and T stage ( r  = 0.74, p  = 7.6e−4), and attained AUC value of 1. However, the clinical significance of serum ADAM12 expression in lung, STES and thyroid cancer had not been found. Conclusions Serum ADAM12 expression showed high degree of tumor heterogeneity, and may be a valuable noninvasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for breast and liver cancer.