October - December 2010, Volume 6, Issue 4

Ghinea N

A novel role for FSH receptor as a tumor endothelial cell marker

Acta Endo (Buc) 2010, 6 (4): 507-512
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2010.507

Our recent studies, led on 1336 tumor samples coming from 11 types of cancer, published in the New England Journal of Medicine 367:1621-1630 show that the receptor of the follicule-stimulating hormone (FSH receptor) is expressed in a preferential way in the tumor blood vessels. No expression has been detected at the level of the blood vessels in healthy tissues, with the exception of the reproductive organs where it is present in much lower concentrations than in tumors. Being directly accessible to the intravenously delivered agents, the FSH receptor can be used as target for cancer imaging and drug delivery.

Keywords: cancer, FSH receptor, tumor marker, imaging, drug targeting

Correspondence: Nicolae Ghinea, Inserm - U955-Eq07, 8 rue du General Sarrail Faculte de Medicine de Creteil 94010 Creteil, France T: 33149813666, Email: nicolae.ghinea@inserm.fr