Diagnostic value of macrophage inhibitory cytokine 1 as a novel prognostic biomarkers for early gastric cancer screening

Dysregulation of systemic immunity and its clinical application in gastric cancer

Immunotherapy has profoundly changed the treatment of gastric cancer, but only a minority of patients benefit from immunotherapy. Therefore, numerous studies have been devoted to clarifying the mechanisms underlying resistance to immunotherapy or developing biomarkers for patient stratification. However, previous studies have focused mainly on the tumor microenvironment. Systemic immune perturbations have long been observed in patients with gastric cancer, and the involvement of the peripheral immune system in effective anticancer responses has attracted much attention in recent years. Therefore, understanding the distinct types of systemic immune organization in gastric cancer will aid personalized treatment designed to pair with traditional therapies to alleviate their detrimental effects on systemic immunity or to directly activate the anticancer response of systemic immunity. Herein, this review aims to comprehensively summarize systemic immunity in gastric cancer, including perturbations in systemic immunity induced by cancer and traditional therapies, and the potential clinical applications of systemic immunity in the detection, prediction, prognosis and therapy of gastric cancer.

Targeted plasma proteomic analysis uncovers a high-performance biomarker panel for early diagnosis of gastric cancer

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer (GC) is characterized by high morbidity, high mortality and low early diagnosis rate. Early diagnosis plays a crucial role in radically treating GC. The aim of this study was to identify plasma biomarkers for GC and early GC diagnosis.

METHODS

We quantified 369 protein levels with plasma samples from discovery cohort (n = 88) and validation cohort (n = 50) via high-throughput proximity extension assay (PEA) utilizing the Olink-Explore-384-Cardiometabolic panel. The multi-protein signatures were derived from LASSO and Ridge regression models.

RESULTS

In the discovery cohort, 13 proteins (GDF15, ITIH3, BOC, DPP7, EGFR, AMY2A, CCDC80, CD163, GPNMB, LTBP2, CTSZ, CCL18 and NECTIN2) were identified to distinguish GC (Stage I-IV) and early GC (HGIN-I) groups from control group with AUC of 0.994 and AUC of 0.998, severally. The validation cohort yielded AUC of 0.930 and AUC of 0.818 for GC and early GC, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

This study identified a multi-protein signature with the potential to benefit clinical GC diagnosis, especially for Asian and early GC patients, which may contribute to the development of a less-invasive, convenient, and efficient early screening tool, promoting early diagnosis and treatment of GC and ultimately improving patient survival.

Mitochondrial dysfunction decreases cisplatin sensitivity in gastric cancer cells through upregulation of integrated stress response and mitokine GDF15

Gastric neoplasm is a high-mortality cancer worldwide. Chemoresistance is the obstacle against gastric cancer treatment. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been observed to promote malignant progression. However, the underlying mechanism is still unclear. The mitokine growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a significant biomarker for mitochondrial disorder and is activated by the integrated stress response (ISR) pathway. The serum level of GDF15 was found to be correlated with the poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients. In this study, we found that high GDF15 protein expression might increase disease recurrence in adjuvant chemotherapy-treated gastric cancer patients. Moreover, treatment with mitochondrial inhibitors, especially oligomycin (a complex V inhibitor) and salubrinal (an ISR activator), respectively, was found to upregulate GDF15 and enhance cisplatin insensitivity of human gastric cancer cells. Mechanistically, it was found that the activating transcription factor 4-C/EBP homologous protein pathway has a crucial function in the heightened manifestation of GDF15. In addition, reactive oxygen species-activated general control nonderepressible 2 mediates the oligomycin-induced ISR, and upregulates GDF15. The GDF15-glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor family receptor a-like-ISR-cystine/glutamate transporter-enhanced glutathione production was found to be involved in cisplatin resistance. These results suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction might enhance cisplatin insensitivity through GDF15 upregulation, and targeting mitokine GDF15-ISR regulation might be a strategy against cisplatin resistance of gastric cancer.

Growth differentiation factor-15 may be a novel biomarker in pancreatic cancer: A review

Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant and invasive gastrointestinal tumor that is often diagnosed at an advanced stage with a poor prognosis and high mortality. Currently, carbohydrate antigen199(CA199) is the only biomarker approved by the FDA for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, but it has great limitations. Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) is expected to be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis, efficacy prediction, and prognosis assessment of pancreatic cancer patients. In this paper, we searched the keywords GDF-15, macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1), CA199, pancreatic cancer, and tumor markers in PubMed and Web of Science, searched related articles, and read and analyzed the retrieved papers. Finally, we systematically described the characteristics, mechanism of action, and clinical value of GDF-15, aiming to provide help for the detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Simultaneous Assay of CA 72-4, CA 19-9, CEA and CA 125 in Biological Samples Using Needle Three-Dimensional Stochastic Microsensors

Two-needle 3D stochastic microsensors based on boron- and nitrogen-decorated gra-phenes, modified with N-(2-mercapto-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-yl), were designed and used for the molecular recognition and quantification of CA 72-4, CA 19-9, CEA and CA 125 biomarkers in biological samples such as whole blood, urine, saliva and tumoral tissue. The NBGr-2 sensor yielded lower limits of determination. For CEA, the LOD was 4.10 × 10-15 s-1 g-1 mL, while for CA72-4, the LOD was 4.00 × 10-11 s-1 U-1 mL. When the NBGr-1 sensor was employed, the best results were obtained for CA12-5 and CA19-9, with values of LODs of 8.37 × 10-14 s-1 U-1 mL and 2.09 × 10-13 s-1 U-1 mL, respectively. High sensitivities were obtained when both sensors were employed. Broad linear concentration ranges favored their determination from very low to higher concentrations in biological samples, ranging from 8.37 × 10-14 to 8.37 × 103 s-1 U-1 mL for CA12-5 when using the NBGr-1 sensor, and from 4.10 × 10-15 to 2.00 × 10-7 s-1 g-1 mL for CEA when using the NBGr-2 sensor. Student's t-test showed that there was no significant difference between the results obtained utilizing the two microsensors for the screening tests, at a 99% confidence level, with the results obtained being lower than the tabulated values.

Biomarkers of gastric cancer: current advancement

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most prevalent malignant types worldwide, especially in East Asia. Due to its frequently advanced stage at diagnosis, the mortality from GC is high and the prognosis is still unsatisfactory. Thus, early detection using effective screening approaches is vital to decrease the morbidity and mortality of GC. Interestingly, biomarkers can be used for diagnosis, prediction of sensitivity to treatment, and prognosis in GC. The potential biomarkers detectable in liquid biopsies such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), microRNAs, and exosomes reveal numerous information regarding the early prediction and the outcomes for GC patients. Additionally, using the novel serum biomarkers has opened up new opportunities for diagnosing and monitoring patients with GC. This review mainly summarizes the novel progress and approaches in GC biomarkers, which could be potentially used for early diagnosis and therapy monitoring. Meanwhile, we also discussed the advantages, disadvantages, and future perspectives of GC biomarkers.

The application of CA72-4 in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of gastric cancer

The role of conventional serum tumor marker, carbohydrate antigen 72-4 (CA72-4), in assisting diagnosis, monitoring dynamic progression, and evaluating the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) should not be ignored, especially in the Chinese population. Even though CA72-4 has been used in clinical practice for decades, its modest positivity rate, sensitivity, and specificity did not meet the high demand of the clinical application. However, over the years, some progress in the functions of CA72-4 has been achieved, suggesting that CA72-4 can still be considered a promising marker in oncology. As a biomarker, CA72-4 can achieve improved sensitivity (SEN) and specificity (SPE) when combined with other biomarkers, selecting suitable reference values, improving detection techniques, and identifying the risk threshold. As a predictor, elevated serum CA72-4 levels were found to be significantly associated with prognostic risk factors, further assessing therapeutic validity and resectability. Recently, an effective method to reduce the toxicity of CA72-4 targeted therapy has been developed. Moreover, CA72-4 could induce novel aptamers to react with tumor cells and enhance the efficacy of trastuzumab in HER2-positive GC. Therefore, in this review, we discuss the most recent application of CA72-4 in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of GC.

Diagnostic value of macrophage inhibitory cytokine 1 as a novel prognostic biomarkers for early gastric cancer screening

BACKGROUND

Early diagnosis is very important to improve the survival rate of patients with gastric cancer (GC), especially in asymptomatic participants. However, low sensitivity of common biomarkers has caused difficulties in early screening of GC. In this study, we explored whether MIC-1 can improve the detection rate of early GC.

METHODS

We screened 8257 participants based on risk factors such as age, gender, and family history for physical examination including gastroscopy. Participant blood samples were taken for measure MIC-1, CA-199, CA72-4, and PG1/PG2 levels. The diagnostic performance of MIC-1 was assessed and compared with CA-199, CA72-4, and PG1/PG2, and its role in early GC diagnosis and the assessment of the risk of precancerous lesions have also been studied.

RESULTS

Based on endoscopic and histopathological findings, 55 participants had GC, 566 participants had low-grade neoplasia, and 2605 participants had chronic gastritis. MIC-1 levels were significantly elevated in GC serum samples as compared to controls (P < .001). The sensitivity of serum MIC-1 for GC diagnosis was much higher than that of CA-199 (49.1% vs 20.0%) with similar specificities. Moreover, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis also showed that serum MIC-1 had a better performance compared with CA-199, CA72-4, and PG1/PG2 in distinguishing early-stage GC (AUC: 72.9% vs 69.5%, 67.5%, 44.0%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Serum MIC-1 is significantly elevated in most patients with early GC. MIC-1 can serve as a novel diagnostic marker of early GC and value the risk of GC.