Post-surgical resection prognostic value of combined OPN, MMP7, and PSG9 plasma biomarkers in hepatocellular carcinoma / 医学前沿

Biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following curative resection are not currently sufficient for prognostic indication of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic performance of osteopontin (OPN), matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP7), and pregnancy specific glycoprotein 9 (PSG9) in patients with HCC. A total of 179 prospective patients with HCC provided plasma before hepatectomy. Plasma OPN, MMP7, and PSG9 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Correlations between plasma levels, clinical parameters, and outcomes (OS and DFS) were overall analyzed. High OPN ( ⩾ 149.97 ng/mL), MMP7 ( ⩾ 2.28 ng/mL), and PSG9 ( ⩾ 45.59 ng/mL) were prognostic indicators of reduced OS (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, and P = 0.007, respectively). Plasma PSG9 protein level was an independent factor in predicting OS (P = 0.008) and DFS (P = 0.038). Plasma OPN + MMP7 + PSG9 elevation in combination was a prognostic factor for OS (P < 0.001). OPN was demonstrated to be a risk factorassociated OS in stage I patients with HCC and patients with low α-fetoprotein levels ( < 20 ng/mL). These findings suggested that OPN, MMP7, PSG9 and their combined panels may be useful for aiding in tumor recurrence and mortality risk prediction of patients with HCC, particularly in the early stage of HCC carcinogenesis.

Protein levels and its clinical significance of septin-9 and clusterin in peripheral blood of epithelial ovarian cancer patients / 中华妇产科杂志

Objective To evaluate septin-9 and clusterin protein levels in the peripheral blood samples from epithelial ovarian cancer patients, and explore its clinical significance. Methods Clinical data of 200 patients in Cancer Hospital,Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from Jan. 29, 2008 to Feb. 1,2010 were collected. The peripheral blood samples were obtained from 137 epithelial ovarian cancer patients, 12 borderline ovarian tumor patients, 10 benign ovarian tumor patients, 41 benign pelvic lesion patients and 58 healthy women. The septin-9 and clusterin protein levels in the plasma were measured by double antibody sandwich ELISA or ELISA. The clinical significance of clusterin and septin-9 in plasma was analyzed. The diagnostic efficacy of septin-9 and clusterin protein in the detection of ovarian cancer was evaluated by the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results Double antibody sandwich ELISA showed: the mean levels of plasma septin-9 in epithelial ovarian cancer patients or benign pelvic lesion patients were significantly higher than that in healthy women detedted by double antibody sandwich ELISA (P0.05). ELISA showed: the mean level of plasma clusterin in epithelial ovarian cancer patients was significantly higher than that in healthy women deteded by ELISA (P=0.021). The expression level of clusterin protein in peripheral blood of ovarian cancer patients was not related to the above clinical pathological parameters (all P>0.05). To distinguish between ovarian cancer patients and healthy women by septin-9 protein expression level in plasma, when AUC was 0.712 and cut off was 0.28, the sensitivity of detection ovarian cancer by septin-9 protein expression was 82.5%, and the specificity was 50.0%. To distinguish between ovarian cancer patients and healthy women by clusterin protein expression level in plasma, when AUC was 0.636 and cut off was 87.96 pg/L, the sensitivity of detection ovarian cancer by clusterin protein expression was 71.5%, and the specificity was 41.4%. Conclusions The expression of septin-9 and clusterin protein in peripheral blood of ovarian cancer patients is increased, especially the expression level of septin-9 protein with related to the distant metastasis. The study results shown that the detection of septin-9 and clusterin in plasma has a certain diagnosis value in ovarian cancer, which may be a potential markers for ovarian cancer.

OLC1 protein levels in plasma of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and its clinical application / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The aim of this study was to detect the plasma concentration of OLC1 (overexpressed in lung cancer 1) protein as a potential cancer biomarker, and evaluating its clinical application value in the diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We prepared OLC1 antibody with OLC1 full length protein, in 5-6-week old Bal B/c mice. Each mouse was immunized four times at a dose of 15-30 µg antigen protein, and the interval between two consecutive immunizations was two weeks. Antibody screening was made by ELISA and Western blot, and a double antibody sandwich ELISA kit was developed. We used this established ELISA kit to detect the plasma concentration of OLC1 protein in 281 NSCLC patients and 92 gender- and age-matched healthy controls. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the detection efficacy of OLC1.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>We obtained 11 OLC1 monoclonal antibodies and successfully established the ELISA kit to detect the plasma concentration of OLC1 with a detection range from 1.95 ng/ml to 62.50 ng/ml. OLC1 concentration in the case group (124.69 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that in the control group (67.07 ng/ml, P < 0.001). In the scenario of distinguishing NSCLC from control group, AUC result was 0.69. When the cut-off was set at 67.72 ng/ml, the sensitivity and specificity was 84.4% and 51.1%, respectively. In term of distinguishing early lung cancer (IA) from normal controls, the AUC, sensitivity and specificity were 0.68, 77.8% and 54.4%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The plasma concentration of OLC1 protein is significantly elevated in NSCLC patients. OLC1 may be as a potential cancer biomarker applied in clinical diagnosis.</p>

Expression of DLK1 protein and its correlation with renal cell carcinoma pathological characteristics / 中华泌尿外科杂志

Objective To identify the expression of DLK1 protein in different types of renal cell carcinomas and its correlations with pathological characteristics and metastasis. Methods Immunohistochemistry analysis was performed to evaluate the expression of DLK1 protein in 94 cases of primary clear cell renal cell carcinoma, 76 cases of papillary renal cell carcinoma, 45 cases of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma, 71 cases of distal metastatic and 24 cases of lymph node metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma, as well as 18 cases of normal renal tissue. The correlations of DLK1 protein expression with pathological characteristics were analyzed. Results DLK1 protein was expressed in proximal and distal renal tubular epithelial cells in all the normal renal cases. In contrast, DLK1 protein expression was lower in different types of renal cell carcinoma. The low or negative expression of DLK1 protein in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, papillary renal cell carcinoma and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma was 33.0% (31/94), 27.6% (21/76) and 33.3% (15/45), respectively. Compared to normal renal tissue, DLK1 protein expression was significantly down-regulated in renal cell carcinomas (P＞0.05), whereas there was no significant difference on DLK1 protein expressions among the different types (P＞0.05) of renal cell carcinomas. DLK1 protein expression was not correlated with sex (60 male and 34 female cases), age (≥55, 50 cases and 55, 44 cases), grade (41 cases in grade I, 9 cases in grade II, 21 cases in grade III and 23 cases in grade Ⅳ respectively) and lymph node metastasis (76 cases with and 18 cases without lymph node metastasis) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (P＞0.05). There was also no significant difference among primary, lymph node and distal metastatic lesions of clear cell carcinoma (P＞0.05). Conclusions DLK1 protein expression is commonly down-regulated in different types of renal cell carcinomas. Down-regulation of DLK1 protein expression is not associated with pathological characteristics and metastasis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

The significance of loss of 3q26. 1 small fragment in urothelial carcinoma of th bladder / 中华泌尿外科杂志

Objective To investigate the copy number changes on chromosome 3q26. 1 in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder, and to explore its potential clinical significance. Methods The microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization (Array-CGH) approach was used to analyze the genome-wide copy number changes of 35 tumor tissue samples of bladder cancer. To confirm the loss of a small fragment in 3q26. 1 detected by Array-CGH, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) was performed with 57 frozen tumor tissue samples and 34 formalinfixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue samples. The urine sediment cells collected from 15 healthy volunteers and 29 bladder cancer patients were checked as above. Results The Array-CGH data showed that the copy number loss of a small fragment in 3q26. 1 was detected in 77.1% (27/35)of the tumor tissue samples investigated. Real-time PCR analysis validated this loss of a small fragment of 3q26.1 with high frequencies in both 57 frozen tumor samples and 34 FFPE tumor samples.The percentage of samples exhibiting loss was 78.9% (45/57) and 100. 0% (34/34) respectively.Furthermore, the relative copy number of the 3q26.1 small fragment was significantly lower in the urinary sediment cells of the patients (median=0. 0020), comparing with that of healthy controls (median=0. 0030) (P＜0.01). Conclusions Loss of the small fragment in 3q26.1 could be a characteristic genetic change of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. It may serve as a potential molecular marker for bladder cancer.

Current trends in molecular classification of cancers / 中华检验医学杂志

Tumor morphology from the microscopic appearance has being served as the basis of tumor classification,but has serious 1imitations.Molecular aberrations,including DNA,RNA and protein,ale playing an ever increasing role in guiding classification,prognosis,and therapeutic strategies in cancer patients.A specific molecular profile correlating with important clinical parameters should allow physicians to base management decisions on the molecular characteristics of an individual patient's tumor.The application of high-throughput technologies to tumor,3 should make it possible to generate comprehensive molecular profiles.The integration of clinical,morphological and molecular data could result in a more precise classification of cancers,and lead to better understanding,individualized predicting and treatment,which would give the maximum benefit to the patients.