Lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer are the leading causes of death in developed countries. Many cancers display non-specific signs in the early stage of the disease, thus making early diagnosis often difficult. We focused on nestin as a new biomarker of possible clinical importance in the early diagnosis and monitoring of cancer. The expression of nestin takes place at an early stage of neural differentiation, but no expression of the nestin gene can be revealed in normal, mature adult tissues. Nestin plays an important role in the development of the central nervous system and contributes to the organization and maintenance of cell shape. Nestin was found to be a marker of microvessel density, which in turn has proven to be a reliable prognostic factor for neoplastic malignancies in patients. Nestin expression correlates with an increased aggressiveness of tumor cells. The role of nestin in cancers of the colon and rectum, liver, central nervous system, lung cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, and other cancers has been reviewed in the literature. Associations between nestin expression and prognosis or drug-resistance may help in disease management. More research is needed to understand the molecular mechanisms of nestin expression and its role in possible targeted therapy.

肺癌、结肠癌、乳腺癌和前列腺癌是发达国家的主要死亡原因。许多癌症在疾病的早期阶段表现出非特异性体征，因此通常很难进行早期诊断。我们专注于将巢蛋白作为在癌症早期诊断和监测中可能具有临床重要性的新生物标志物。巢蛋白的表达发生在神经分化的早期阶段，但在正常、成熟的成人组织中没有发现巢蛋白基因的表达。巢蛋白在中枢神经系统的发育中起着重要作用，并有助于细胞形状的组织和维持。发现巢蛋白是微血管密度的标志物，而微血管密度又被证明是患者肿瘤性恶性肿瘤的可靠预后因素。巢蛋白表达与肿瘤细胞侵袭性增加相关。巢蛋白在结肠癌和直肠癌、肝癌、中枢神经系统癌、肺癌、乳腺癌、黑色素瘤和其他癌症中的作用已在文献中进行了综述。巢蛋白表达与预后或耐药性之间的关联可能有助于疾病管理。需要更多的研究来了解巢蛋白表达的分子机制及其在可能的靶向治疗中的作用。