Circulating SCCA-IgM complex is a useful biomarker to predict the outcome of therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma patients

SerpinB3/4 Expression Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Patients with Cholangiocarcinoma

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), the second most common primary liver tumor, is associated with a dismal outcome, and useful prognostic markers are not currently available in clinical practice. SerpinB3, a serine protease inhibitor, was recently found to play a relevant role in malignant transformation in different cancers. The aim of the present study was to determine the expression of SerpinB3/4 in tissue and serum samples of patients with CCA in relation to clinical outcomes. SerpinB3/4 was assessed in the tissue microarrays (TMAs) of 123 surgically resected CCAs. ELISA assays were carried out in 188 patients with CCA to detect the free and IgM-linked forms of SerpinB3/4. Overall survival was analyzed in relation to SerpinB3/4 expression, and Cox models were used to identify the variables associated with survival. High levels of SerpinB3/4 (TMA score 2+/3+) were detected in 15 tumors (12.2%), characterized by a more advanced TNM stage (III/IV: 64.3% vs. 31.3%; p = 0.031) and lower overall patient survival, independently of CCA subclass (intrahepatic CCA: median 1.1 (0.8-Not Estimable, NE) vs. 2.4 (1.8-3.4) years; p = 0.0007; extrahepatic CCA: median 0.8 (0.2-NE) vs. 2.2 (1.5-5.4) years; p = 0.011). Vascular invasion (p = 0.027) and SerpinB3/4 scores (p = 0.0016) were independently associated with mortality in multivariate analysis. Patients who had detectable free or IgM-linked SerpinB3/4 in their serum showed poorer survival (1 vs. 2.4 years, p = 0.015, for free SerpinB3/4, and 1 vs. 2.6 years, p = 0.0026, for SerpinB3/4-IgM). In conclusion, high levels of SerpinB3/4 in tissue and serum in CCA are associated with poor outcomes after surgery, regardless of tumor subclass.

Biomarker discovery and application-An opportunity to resolve the challenge of liver cancer diagnosis and treatment

Liver cancer is one of the most common malignancies, with severe morbidity and mortality. While considerable progress has been made in liver cancer treatment, the 5-year overall survival (OS) of patients has not improved significantly. Reasons include the inadequate capability of early screening and diagnosis, a high incidence of recurrence and metastasis, a high degree of tumor heterogeneity, and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Therefore, the identification and validation of specific and robust liver cancer biomarkers are of major importance for early screening, timely diagnosis, accurate prognosis, and the prevention of tumor progression. In this review, we highlight some of the latest research progress and potential applications of liver cancer biomarkers, describing hotspots and prospective directions in biomarker discovery.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen: Clinical Application and Research Status

The squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) is a tumor marker that has gained increasing attention for its biological functions and significance in normal physiological and pathological processes. Not only SCCA but also circulating immune complexes of SCCA and immunoglobulin M (IgM) are involved in normal physiological and pathological processes, providing a background for numerous clinical studies aimed at assessing the potential role of SCCA, SCCA–IgM, and SCCA isoform complexes in clinical practice. Previous studies support the clinical value of SCCA as a tumor marker for either diagnosing squamous cancers or monitoring the response to radiotherapy or chemotherapy, tumor relapse, and treatment failure. However, these studies show contrasting results, making the diagnostic or prognostic value of SCCA controversial. To reduce clinical heterogeneity across studies and achieve a more accurate and reliable comparison of results, a standardized detection method, scoring system, and cutoff level need to be established. Moreover, despite the fact that performances of different methods are comparable, the dynamic observation of tumor marker kinetics should be conducted under the same method.

Immunodiagnostic Biomarkers for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC): The First Step in Detection and Treatment

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) exerts huge effects on the health burden of the world because of its high mortality and poor prognosis. HCC is often clinically detected late in patients. If HCC could be detected and treated earlier, the survival rate of patients will be greatly improved. Therefore, identifying specific biomarkers is urgent and important for HCC. The liver is also recognized as an immune organ. The occurrence of HCC is related to exacerbation of immune tolerance and/or immunosurveillance escape. The host immune system plays an important role in the recognition and targeting of tumor cells in cancer immunotherapy, as can be seen from the clinical success of immune checkpoint inhibitors and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. Thus, there is a pressing medical need to discover immunodiagnostic biomarkers specific to HCC for understanding the pathological mechanisms of HCC, especially for immunotherapy targets. We have reviewed the existing literature to summarize the immunodiagnostic markers of HCC, including autoantibodies against tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and exosomes, to provide new insights into HCC and early detection of this deadly cancer.

SCCA-IgM in hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with transarterial chemoembolization: gender-related differences

Aim: Squamous cell carcinoma antigen immune complexed with immunoglobulin M (SCCA-IgM) is a useful but not completely satisfactory biomarker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Considering its gender-specific behavior in preclinical models, we investigated gender-related differences of SCCA-IgM as a prognostic marker in HCC. Patients & methods: Two hundred and eight prospectively recruited patients treated with transarterial chemoembolization in a single tertiary care hospital were retrospectively evaluated. Correlations between SCCA-IgM levels, clinical characteristics and survival were assessed according to gender. Results: When the disease was advanced, SCCA-IgM was higher in males and lower in females. Levels below 130 AU/ml predicted a significantly longer survival in males (p = 0.007) and a shorter survival in females (p = 0.01). Conclusion: In predicting the prognosis of HCC patients, the interpretation of SCCA-IgM should consider gender as a relevant variable.

Serum Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen-Immunoglobulin M complex levels predict survival in patients with cirrhosis

Complications of chronic liver diseases – particularly hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) – are a major cause of mortality worldwide. Several studies have shown that high or increasing levels of serum Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen-Immunoglobulin M complex (SCCA-IgM) are associated with development of HCC in patients with advanced liver disease and worse survival in patients with liver cancer. The aim of the present study was to assess, in patients with advanced liver disease, differences in long-term clinical outcomes in relation to baseline levels of serum SCCA-IgM. Ninety one consecutive outpatients with liver cirrhosis of different etiologies, without hepatocellular carcinoma at presentation, were enrolled from April 2007 to October 2012 in a prospective study. For a median time of 127 months, patients were bi-annually re-evaluated. SCCA-IgM complex levels were determined with a validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results provided evidence that serum SCCA-IgM is a predictor of overall survival. The best cut-off to discriminate both HCC-free and overall survival rates was 120 AU/mL. Patients with baseline values higher than this threshold showed a substantial increase in both HCC incidence rate and all-cause mortality rate. In conclusion, a single measurement of serum SCCA-IgM helps to identify those patients with liver cirrhosis with increased risks of HCC development and mortality.

A novel sandwich-type photoelectrochemical sensor for SCCA detection based on Ag2S-sensitized BiOI matrix and AucorePdshell nanoflower label for signal amplification

Signal amplification was fulfilled for the interaction between BiOI/Ag₂S and Au_cPd_s.