Pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP)

Pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP) is the stable precursor of the neuropeptide gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), which is encoded by the GRP gene [1, 4]. It is widely recognized as a highly sensitive and specific serum biomarker for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and other neuroendocrine tumors, such as medullary thyroid carcinoma [2, 11, 13]. While the active peptide GRP has a very short half-life of approximately two minutes, the ProGRP region (specifically the 31-98 amino acid fragment) is significantly more stable in the circulation, allowing for reliable clinical measurement [1, 11, 16]. Biologically, GRP acts as a potent mitogen and autocrine growth factor in various cancers by binding to the GRP receptor (GRPR), stimulating cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis [3, 4, 22]. Although ProGRP itself has been investigated as a potential therapeutic target due to its own mitogenic properties, its primary clinical utility remains in diagnosis, staging, and monitoring the efficacy of treatments like chemotherapy [3, 5, 24]. Elevated ProGRP levels are also observed in patients with renal insufficiency, which must be considered during clinical interpretation [12, 22].

Other names

Gastrin-releasing peptide precursorGRP precursorPrepro-GRPPro-GRP

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