Chitinase-like proteins as promising markers in cancer patients

In the present review we collected the main studies regarding the role of chitinase-like proteins (CLPs), belonging to the family of Glyco_18 domain-containing proteins, in different cancers. In humans, 3 chitinaselike proteins have been identified: YKL-40 (CHI3L1), YKL-39 (CHI3L2) and stabilin-1-interacting chitinase-like protein (SI-CLP). CLPs are produced by several types of cells and combine the properties of cytokines and growth factors. The high levels of CLPs were identified in the circulation of the patients with inflammatory diseases and various types of tumors. We highlighted the main known functions of CLPs in normal and pathological conditions, their contribution to metastasis development, angiogenesis, invasion and other processes in cancer, the correlation of the levels of CLPs with tumour progression. Our data also contribute to the understanding of question how CLP could be useful for cancer patient benefit.