Acute Phase Proteins as Cancer Biomarkers

Interactions between tumor cells and the host microenvironment have been shown to play a significant role in the initiation, progression, and invasiveness of human cancer. The complex changes in the tumor microenvironment have been shown to modulate the activation of the different arms of the host immune system including the acute phase response. Acute phase changes are mediated by several serum proteins [acute phase proteins (APP)] whose concentrations may increase (positive APP) or decrease (negative APP) as a result of varied clinical conditions, including cancer. To date, a body of evidence suggests APP may have a profound impact on cancer growth and appear to court a protective immune response by co-opting the body’s innate immune system. In this review, we discuss the impact of the host tumor response in relation to acute phase proteins and examine literature characterizing APP as helpful cancer biomarkers. Insights gained into the mechanism of action of acute-phase reactants towards malignancy and how they are induced could be exploited for the future development of more specific and targeted cancer biomarker strategies.