Cancer Biomarkers - Volume 29, issue 1

Authors: Tang, Xiao-Zhun | Zhou, Xian-Guo | Zhang, Xiao-Guohui | Li, Guo-Sheng | Chen, Gang | Dang, Yi-Wu | Huang, Zhi-Guang | Li, Ming-Xuan | Liang, Yao | Yao, Yu-Xuan | Chen, Xiao-Yi | Rong, Min-Hua | Huang, Su-Ning

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Interleukin 24 (IL24) has been documented to be highly expressed in several cancers, but its role in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) remains unclarified. In this study, to reveal the function and its clinical significance of IL24 in LSCC, multiple detecting methods were used comprehensively. IL24 protein expression was remarkably higher in LSCC (n = 49) than non-cancerous laryngeal controls (n = 26) as detected by in-house immunohistochemistry. Meanwhile, the IL24 mRNA expression was also evaluated based on high throughput data from Gene Expression Omnibus, The Cancer Genome Atlas, ArrayExpress …and Oncomine databases. Consistently with the protein level, IL24 mRNA expression level was also predominantly upregulated in LSCC (n = 172) compared to non-cancerous laryngeal tissues (n = 81) with the standard mean difference (SMD) being 1.25 and the area under the curve (AUC) of the summary receiver operating characteristic (sROC) being 0.89 (95% CI = 0.86–0.92). Furthermore, the related genes of IL24 and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of LSCC were intersected and sent for Gene ontology (GO) enrichment, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses. In the GO annotation, the top terms of biological process (BP), cellular component (CC) and molecular function (MF) were extracellular matrix organization, extracellular matrix, cytokine activity, respectively. The top pathway of KEGG was ECM-receptor interaction. The PPI networks indicated the top hub genes of IL24-related genes in LSCC were SERPINE1, TGFB1, MMP1, MMP3, CSF2, and ITGA5. In conclusion, upregulating expression of IL24 may enhance the occurrence of LSCC, which owns prospect diagnostic ability and therapeutic significance in LSCC. Show more

Keywords: Interleukin 24, laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, immunohistochemistry, RNA-sequencing, microarray

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-201441

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 111-124, 2020

Authors: Bai, Yuanyuan | Chen, Cheng | Guo, Xiaoling | Ding, Ting | Yang, Xinyun | Yu, Jian | Yang, Junjun | Ruan, Jichen | Zheng, Xiaoqun | Chen, Zhanguo

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: MicroRNA (miRNA) expression has been implicated in leukaemia. In recent years, miRNAs have been under investigation for their potential as non-invasive biomarkers in acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL). We investigated whether miR-638 in circulating leukaemia cells is a non-invasive biomarker in diagnosis, assessment of the treatment response and minimal residual disease (MRD) surveillance of APL. METHODS: Sixty cases of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), including 30 cases of APL and 30 cases of non-APL AML, were selected. Thirty healthy controls were also selected. Bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) samples were collected from APL patients at …diagnosis and post-induction. Microarray analysis and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) were performed for miRNA profiling and miR-638 expression analysis, respectively. For statistical analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and Spearman’s rho correlation test were used. RESULTS: Both microarray and qRT-PCR data showed that miR-638 was significantly upregulated in BM after APL patients received induction therapy. Moreover, miR-638, which is specifically downregulated in APL cell lines, was upregulated after all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA)-induced myeloid differentiation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses revealed that miR-638 could serve as a valuable biomarker for differentiating APL from controls or non-APL AML. Furthermore, miR-638 expression was sharply increased after induction therapy and complete remission (CR). An inverse correlation was observed between miR-638 and PML-RARα transcripts levels in BM samples, while a positive correlation was revealed between PB miR-638 and BM miR-638 levels in APL patients after induction therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested that miR-638 may serve as a potential APL biomarker for diagnosis and assessment of the response to targeted therapy, and PB miR-638 could be used for non-invasive MRD surveillance in APL. Show more

Keywords: Acute promyelocytic leukaemia, miR-638, non-invasive biomarker, treatment response, minimal residual disease

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-190899

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 125-137, 2020

Authors: Huang, Zeting | Zhou, Bin | Li, Zheng | Liu, Cantong | Zheng, Chunwen | Zeng, Ruijie | Hong, Chaoqun | Xu, Liyan | Li, Enmin | Peng, Yuhui | Xu, Yiwei

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) has poor prognosis mainly due to the difficulty of making early diagnosis. Therefore, novel biomarkers are critically needed. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of serum interleukin-8 (IL-8) in ESCC. METHODS: Data mining of TCGA was used to analyze expression level of IL-8 mRNA in esophageal carcinoma. Serum levels of IL-8 were measured in 103 ESCC patients and 86 normal controls by ELISA. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate its diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: IL-8 mRNA expression level and serum …IL-8 concentration were both statistically higher in patients than normal controls (P < 0.001). ROC curve demonstrated that the optimum diagnostic cut-off for serum IL-8 was 80.082 pg/mL, providing an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.694 (95% CI: 0.620–0.768), with specificity of 86.0% and sensitivity of 42.7%. The AUC for early-stage ESCC was 0.618 (95% CI: 0.499–0.737), with sensitivity of 35.3% and specificity of 86.0%. Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test indicated that IL-8 may not be a prognostic predictor for ESCC. CONCLUSIONS: Serum IL-8 was highly expressed in ESCC patients and may be a potential marker for early diagnosis of ESCC. Show more

Keywords: Interleukin-8, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, biomarker, diagnosis, serum, ROC curve

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-201687

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 139-149, 2020

Authors: Chen, Linyan | Zeng, Hao | Du, Ze | Zhao, Yunuo | Ma, Xuelei

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Systemic inflammatory biomarkers reflect level of inflammatory response, which have been suggested as prognostic factors in cancer patients. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prognostic value of inflammatory biomarkers in 149 patients with head and neck soft tissue sarcoma (HNSTS). METHODS: Pre-treatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), neutrophil-platelet score (NPS) and Aarhus Composite Biomarker Score (ACBS) were analyzed for association with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Nomograms were consisted of independent predictors for OS and PFS, and evaluated by calibration curve and concordance index …(C-index). RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, LMR (HR = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.19–0.94, P = 0.035), ACBS (HR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.02–4.12, P = 0.045) and AJCC stage were independent prognostic markers of OS. Moreover, high NLR (HR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.07–2.94, P = 0.024) and advanced AJCC stage were independently related with worse PFS. Calibration curves reflected good discriminative ability of prognosis. The nomograms showed better accuracy of predicting OS (C-index: 0.748 vs. 0.690, P = 0.009) and PFS (C-index: 0.644 vs. 0.612, P = 0.028) than stage. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-treatment LMR, ACBS and AJCC stage were effective predictor of OS. The NLR and AJCC stage could independently predict PFS. The nomogram might act as a promising prognostic model for OS and PFS in HNSTS. Show more

Keywords: Soft tissue sarcoma, head and neck, inflammation, nomogram, prognosis

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-201739

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 151-161, 2020

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-200901

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 163-, 2020

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-200902

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 165-, 2020

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-200903

Citation: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 167-, 2020