The prognostic and predictive value of combined HE4 and CA-125 in ovarian cancer patients

Evaluation of He4 Use in the Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer: First and Second Recurrence, and an Analysis of HE4 Concentration during Second- and Third-Line Chemotherapy

HE4 is a commonly used tumor marker for ovarian cancer (OC) diagnosis. In our study, we aimed to assess its use in the diagnosis of subsequent OC recurrences and to evaluate its changes during recurrence diagnosis and the subsequent lines of chemotherapy treatment. This retrospective single center study was conducted on 188 patients treated for ovarian cancer recurrence at the Department of Gynecological Surgery and Gynecological Oncology. The sensitivity and specificity of HE4 for patient survival prediction were analyzed using Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Survival times to reach one of the endpoints (OS, PFS, TFI, PFS2, TFI2) were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves. Elevated HE4 levels at the time of first relapse diagnosis, and after the third and the last course of second-line chemotherapy, significantly influences the time from OC diagnosis until first disease recurrence (PFS2) (p = 0.005, p = 0.015 and p = 0.002, respectively). Additionally, elevated serum HE4 concentration at the time of OC diagnosis (p = 0.012), and its later recurrence (first (p < 0.001), and second recurrent diagnosis (p = 0.143)) significantly influences patient OS. Increased HE4 concentration at the end of chemotherapeutic treatment negatively affects overall patient survival ((p = 0.006 for second line chemotherapy and (p = 0.022) for elevated HE4 concentration after the last course of third-line chemotherapy). Our preliminary results show an encouraging diagnostic and prognostic role of HE4 in recurrent ovarian cancer. HE4 measurements at different treatment time points during the second- and third-line chemotherapy treatment seem to correlate with patient survival.

Predictive Value of HE4 in Platinum-Based Chemotherapy for Ovarian Cancer: A Systematic Review

Objective

To evaluate the value of serum Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) for predicting the resistance of ovarian cancer (OS) to platinum chemotherapy.

Method

We searched the MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, Cochrane Central, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and CNKI databases and screened all studies evaluating serum HE4 for predicting OC resistance to treatment with platinum. Two researchers independently evaluated the quality of all eligible original studies using QUADAS-2. RevMan 5.4 was used to compile the quality evaluation form. We also performed a meta-analysis with STATA15.1, and Deek’s funnel plots were used to detect any publication bias.

Results

Eight studies were included in the final meta-analysis. Our results showed that the sensitivity and specificity of preoperative serum HE4 in predicting the resistance of OC to platinum chemotherapy was 80% and 67%, respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio was 8, and the AUC was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.75-0.82), whereas the pooled sensitivity and specificity of serum HE4 after the third-cycle of chemotherapies for predicting chemoresistance in OC was 86% and 85%, respectively, with a diagnostic odds ratio of 33 and AUC = 0.92 (95% CI: 0.89 – 0.94).

Conclusion

HE4 may be an effective predictor of platinum-based chemotherapeutic resistance of OC. Serum HE4 levels after the third chemotherapy cycle may be indicative for clinical practice. Further research is needed to validate the significance of HE4 in the long-term management of OC.

Systematic Review Registration

https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, PROSPERO (CRD42021220099).

Role of BRCA Mutation and HE4 in Predicting Chemotherapy Response in Ovarian Cancer: A Retrospective Pilot Study

Even though 80% of patients with High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer respond to standard first-line chemotherapy, a majority of them could relapse in the following five years due to a resistance to platinum. Human Epididymis protein 4 (HE4) is one of the most promising markers in predicting platinum therapy response. This pilot study aims to evaluate the potential role of HE4 value in predicting chemotherapy response in BRCA mutated patients and in BRCA wild-type (non-mutated) ones. We selected 69 patients, affected by High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer, and optimally debulked and submitted to standard chemotherapy protocols. HE4 was dosed during every chemotherapy course. Patients were classified as platinum-resistant and platinum-sensitive. According to BRCA mutation test, patients were further divided into BRCA wild-type (53 patients), and BRCA mutated (16 patients). 35 patients out of 69 (52%) were platinum-sensitive (recurrence > 12 months), while 33 patients (48%) were platinum-resistant (recurrence < 12 months). Thus, in the total population, HE4 performed as a marker of chemosensitivity with a sensibility of 79% and a specificity of 97%. In the BRCA WT group, 23 patients out of 53 (43%) were platinum-sensitive, while 30 patients out of 53 (57%) were platinum-resistant. In the BRCA WT group, HE4 performed as a predictive marker of chemosensitivity with a sensibility of 80% and a specificity of 100%. In the BRCA mutated group, 13 patients out of 16 (82%) were platinum-sensitive, while 3 patients (18%) were platinum-resistant. In the BRCA mutated group, HE4 performed as a predictive marker of chemosensitivity in all patients. The ability to detect platinum-resistant patients before tumor relapse probably could open new therapeutic scenarios.

Prognostic value of serum HE4 in patients with advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal carcinoma

PURPOSE

In this study, the prognostic value of serum HE4 was investigated in patients with advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal carcinoma.

METHODS

Serum HE4 and CA125 levels were measured in both patients and controls, and the response of treatment and the detection of recurrence were evaluated by serum HE4 and CA125 levels in the patients.

RESULTS

The results showed that the levels of serum HE4 and CA125 were significantly higher in advanced patients than those seen in benign disease controls (p < 0.001). Compared with CA125, HE4 had higher specificity, but lower sensitivity. Furthermore, serum HE4 was closely associated with the response of treatment and recurrence, the effective response rate for therapy treatment showed by HE4 was higher than CA125, and a serum HE4 level was correlated with a sensitivity of 82.8% and a specificity of 99%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 97.7%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 77.9% to show the presence of recurrence; the accuracy of HE4 for recurrence prediction after treatment was 88.6%.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study indicated that serum HE4 levels are effective for diagnosis, evaluating the response of treatment and predicting recurrence in patients with advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal carcinoma.

Is HE4 Superior over CA-125 in the Follow-up of Patients with Epithelial Ovarian Cancer?

Notwithstanding important advances in the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), this disease is still a leading cause of global high mortality from gynecological malignancies. Recurrence in EOC is inevitable and it is responsible for poor survival rates. There is a critical need for novel effective biomarkers with improved accuracy compared to the standard carbohydrate antigen-125 (CA-125) for follow-up. The human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) is used for early detection of EOC (ROMA algorithm) as well as for predicting optimal cytoreduction after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and survival outcomes. Notably, the emerging HE4 is a promising prognostic biomarker that has displayed better accuracy in various recent studies for detecting recurrent disease. In this mini-review, we discussed the potential of HE4 as an accurate predictor of EOC recurrence.

HE4 level in ascites may assess the ovarian cancer chemotherapeutic effect

BACKGROUND

The clinical treatment of ovarian cancer with ascites is problematic. The main reasons for treatment failure are the susceptibility to intraperitoneal metastasis and chemotherapeutic drug resistance. The purpose and significance of this study is to evaluate which marker might evaluate treatment efficacy and improve the cure rate.

RESULTS

This study compared a no chemotherapy group with a chemotherapy group regarding the determination of carbohydrate antigen 125 and human epididymis protein 4 in ovarian cancer ascitic supernatants and cross-analyzed routine serum carbohydrate antigen 125 levels. The level of human epididymis protein 4 in the ascites of the chemotherapy group was significantly lower than that of the no chemotherapy group (p < 0.001). Moreover, the expression of ascitic human epididymis protein 4 correlated positively with serum carbohydrate antigen 125 levels (p < 0.001). MDR was positive in 13 of the 30 samples (43.33%) in the chemotherapy group with highly expressed CA125.

CONCLUSION

The level of human epididymis protein 4 in ovarian cancer ascites may reflect the therapeutic effect of ovarian cancer patients, and a high level of human epididymis protein 4 might predict chemoresistance and the possibility of ascites formation. The determination of the expression of human epididymis protein 4 alone or combined with carbohydrate antigen 125 levels in both serum and ascites in ovarian cancer patients with ascites may have important significance for guiding and improving the treatment regimen.

Prognostic value of serum and tissue HE4 expression in ovarian cancer: a systematic review with meta-analysis of 90 studies

INTRODUCTION

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in women. Accumulating evidence showed an evolving role of HE4 in monitoring the progression and prognosis of OC but without a comprehensive analysis for prognosis and survival data. Areas covered: The present meta-analysis aims to explore the association of HE4 with survival and the clinicopathological features of OC patients. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched for relevant studies regarding the role of both serum and tissue HE4 expression in ovarian cancer. Expert commentary: HE4 has been proposed as the most promising biomarker that may complement the CA125 expression and has been approved by the FDA in monitoring the follow-up and relapse of OC patients. Our results are in accordance with the most recent evidence suggesting its important role in the prognostic surveillance of OC and a better performance in the early prediction of OC recurrence than CA125.

Could HE4 level measurements during first-line chemotherapy predict response to treatment among ovarian cancer patients?

Background

This study assessed the prognostic value of HE4 marker measurements at various stages of first-line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.

Methods

The study consisted of 90 ovarian cancer patients, including 48 women undergoing primary surgical treatment and 42 patients qualified for neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Each patient underwent HE4 and CA 125 level measurements at the time of diagnosis and subsequently as follows: after surgical treatment, after the third course of adjuvant chemotherapy, before interval cytoreductive surgery and after chemotherapy. The HE4 value was assessed based on the PSF, OS, DFS, surgical outcome, two-year survival and platinum sensitivity.

Results

Preoperative HE4 levels were a predictor of platinum sensitivity (AUC– 0.644; p = 0.035) and DFS (AUC = 0.637; p = 0.0492). A univariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum HE4 significantly correlated with PFS (baseline results over median HR = 2.96, p = 0.0009; baseline over 75 percentile HR = 2.44, p = 0.0062; normalization after treatment HR = 0.46, p = 0.0125; 50% reduction before IDS HR = 0.64, p = 0.0017). In the multivariate analysis, normalization after treatment and 50% reduction before IDS significantly influenced the PFS (HR = 0.29, p = 0.00008; HR = 0.23, p = 0.0024). The HE4 levels also correlated with the OS as follows: values below the median (HR = 1.88, p = 0.0087), normalization after chemotherapy (HR = 0.08, p = 0.0003), and 50% reduction before IDS (HR = 0.39, p = 0.0496).

Conclusions

The significant effect of the normalization of the HE4 marker after therapy and 50% reduction of HE4 levels before interval cytoreductive surgery on PFS and OS confirmed that HE4 might be an independent prognostic factor of treatment response. HE4 measurements performed during first-line treatment of ovarian cancer may have prognostic significance.

The role of novel biomarker HE4 in the diagnosis, prognosis and follow-up of ovarian cancer: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers, in fact, >80% of cases are diagnosed as advanced-stage disease associated with a high mortality rate (<40% of women cured). A systematic review was performed to estimate the role of HE4 in the diagnosis, prognosis and follow-up of ovarian tumors. Areas covered: A comprehensive search of the literature from January 1952 to August 2016 was conducted using the terms 'ovarian tumor' and 'ovarian cancer' combined with 'HE4' and 'human epididymis protein 4'. The search identified a total of 259 citations, of which 141 were potentially relevant after initial evaluation. Of these studies, 75 primary studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed, with a total of 14,773 patients. Expert commentary: Serum HE4 dosage is a useful preoperative test for predicting the benign or malignant nature of pelvic masses. It seems to have a promising role in the prediction of clinical and surgical outcomes. Moreover, HE4 seems to better predict recurrence in comparison to CA-125.

Expression of miR-146a in patients with ovarian cancer and its clinical significance

The aim of the present retrospective study was to compare microRNA (miR)-146a expression levels in primary tumors and omental metastases of 48 patients, who had undergone surgery for advanced ovarian serous cancer. Possible correlations between miR-146a expression level and clinicopathological features were investigated, including chemosensitivity and survival. miR-146a was evaluated in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples. miR-146a expression level in primary tumors was demonstrated to be increased in comparison with normal ovary tissues (P=0.02) and metastases (P=0.01). A negative correlation was demonstrated between miR-146a expression in primary tumors and serum levels of cancer antigen 125 (R=-0.37; P=0.03) and Risk of Malignancy Algorithm index (R=-0.79; P=0.0007). Overall survival positively correlated with miR-146a expression in primary tumor tissue samples (R=0.38; P=0.01). Probability of survival was decreased in patients with low miR-146a expression levels in primary tumor tissues (hazard ratio=0.21; P=0.003). Lower levels of miR-146a in primary tumor tissue samples were correlated with a shorter progression-free survival (P=0.04) and platinum-resistance of metastases (P=0.006). In conclusion, miR-146a may be a prognostic marker for serous ovarian cancer.

Prediction of therapy response in ovarian cancer: Where are we now?

Therapy resistance is a major challenge in the management of ovarian cancer (OC). Advances in detection and new technology validation have led to the emergence of biomarkers that can predict responses to available therapies. It is important to identify predictive biomarkers to select resistant and sensitive patients in order to reduce important toxicities, to reduce costs and to increase survival. The discovery of predictive and prognostic biomarkers for monitoring therapy is a developing field and provides promising perspectives in the era of personalized medicine. This review article will discuss the biology of OC with a focus on targetable pathways; current therapies; mechanisms of resistance; predictive biomarkers for chemotherapy, antiangiogenic and DNA-targeted therapies, and optimal cytoreductive surgery; and the emergence of liquid biopsy using recent studies from the Medline database and ClinicalTrials.gov.

Placental type alkaline phosphatase tissue expression in ovarian serous carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the expression profile of placental type alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), cancer antigen 125 (CA125), and human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) in serous ovarian cancer and to correlate their expression with the tumor aggressiveness and progression.

METHODS

Retrospective study considering a tissue microarray of 82 women affected by ovarian serous cancer. Protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry on ovarian serous cancer tissue samples. Immunohistochemical staining was semiquantitatively evaluated as H-score.

RESULTS

Median H-score values were lower for PLAP, 1 (IQR 0-4) than CA125, 10 (IQR 6-12) or HE4, 8 (IQR 5-12). Even if PLAP was less expressed in the cells of serous ovarian cancer than CA125 or HE4 it was relatively more expressed in the fourth quartile of its H-score distribution among cases with low CA125 or HE4 expression. Furthermore, PLAP and HE4 high expression resulted to be significantly correlated with a better prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS

PLAP could be an additional marker for early detection of serous ovarian carcinoma, together with the established CA125 and HE4. In addition, PLAP expression is correlated with prognosis, giving, in this way, an additional tool for improving treatment approach.

Identification of high-risk patients by human epididymis protein 4 levels during follow-up of ovarian cancer

The majority of ovarian cancer patients with advanced disease at diagnosis will relapse following primary treatment, with a dismal prognosis. Monitoring the levels of serum markers in patients under follow-up may be essential for the early detection of relapse, and for distinguishing high-risk patients from those with less aggressive disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible predictive value of human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) and carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) in relation to recurrence of epithelial ovarian cancer by measuring the two markers during follow-up subsequent to surgery and adjuvant first-line carboplatin/paclitaxel chemotherapy. Serum HE4 and CA125 were analyzed in 88 epithelial ovarian cancer patients at the end of treatment and consecutively during follow-up. The patients were divided into a high-risk and a low-risk group based on having an increase in HE4 and CA125 levels above or below 50% during follow-up, relative to the baseline (end-of-treatment) level. Disease recurrence was detected in 55 patients during follow-up. Patients with an increase in HE4 of >50% at 3- and 6-month follow-up compared to the end-of-treatment sample had significantly poorer progression-free survival (PFS) [hazard ratio (HR), 2.82 (95% CI, 0.91–8.79; P=0.0052) and HR, 7.71 (95% CI, 3.03–19.58; P<0.0001), respectively]. The corresponding 3- and 6-month biomarker assessments for increased CA125 levels (>50%) showed HRs of 1.86 (95% CI, 0.90–3.80; P=0.0512) and 2.55 (95% CI, 1.39–4.68; P=0.0011), respectively. Multivariate analysis confirmed HE4 as a predictor of short PFS, with an HR of 8.23 (95% CI, 3.28–20.9; P<0.0001) at 6-month follow-up. The increase of CA125 was not a significant prognostic factor in multivariate analysis for PFS. In conclusion, HE4 appears to be a sensitive marker of recurrence and instrumental in risk assessment during the first 6 months of follow-up.

Serum HE4: An Independent Prognostic Factor in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Human epididymis secretory protein 4 (HE4) is a secreted glycosylated protein encoded by the WAP four-disulfide core domain 2 (WFDC2) gene, located on a chromosome 20 segment that is frequently amplified in many cancers. This study aimed at determining serum HE4 prognostic value in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), following the REMARK guidelines. Serum samples from 346 consecutive patients with histologically proven and previously untreated NSCLC and 41 patients with benign pulmonary disease were collected at the Montpellier-Nimes Academic Hospital. Work-up investigations performed to determine the disease characteristics and treatment algorithms were congruent with international guidelines. HE4 levels in serum were measured with an ELISA test (Fujirebio Diagnostics) that uses two monoclonal antibodies, 2H5 and 3D8, against the C-WFDC domain of HE4. The area under the ROC curve (i.e., overall ability of HE4 to discriminate between controls and patients) was 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.738–0.821; z test P <0.0001). Serum HE4 levels were significantly higher in patients with worse performance status, advanced TNM stage and positive nodal status. In the Cox model, overall survival was shorter in patients with high pretreatment serum HE4 (above 140 pmol/L) than in patients with serum H4 level ≤ 140 pmol/L [median survival: 17.7 weeks (95% CI, 11.9 to 24.9) and 46.4 weeks (95% CI, 38.6 to 56.3), respectively; hazard ratio: 1.48 (95% CI, 1.12 to 1.95) for high HE4; adjusted P = 0.0057]. High serum HE4 level at diagnosis is an independent determinant of poor prognosis in NSCLC.

Prognostic Value of Serum HE4 Levels and Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm Scores at the Time of Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis

Objectives

The aim of this study is to assess whether the pretreatment serum HE4 levels or the Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm (ROMA) scores at the time of initial diagnosis are associated with progression-free survival (PFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with ovarian cancer receiving either primary debulking surgery or neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery.

Methods

A survival analysis of 101 cases of invasive ovarian cancer recruited in a previous diagnostic accuracy study was conducted from 2005 to 2009 at the University Hospital KU Leuven, Belgium. Serum HE4 levels (pM) and ROMA scores (%) were obtained before primary treatment. Dates of death were obtained by record linkage with patient hospital files. Progression was evaluated according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Adjusted hazards ratios (HRs) were estimated using multivariable Cox regression.

Results

Eighty patients (79%) with invasive ovarian cancer underwent primary debulking surgery, whereas 21 (21%) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The median DSS was 3.72 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.19–4.07). Fifty-two patients (51%) died of disease, and 74 patients (73%) had progressive disease during follow-up. On univariable analysis, elevated pretreatment HE4 levels and ROMA scores were related to worse prognosis. However, after the adjustment for classic prognostic variables, HE4 levels (log2-transformed) and ROMA scores were unrelated to DSS (log-2 HE4: adjusted HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.84–1.21 and ROMA: adjusted HR per 10% increase, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.84–1.12) and PFS (log-2 HE4: adjusted HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.84–1.13 and ROMA: adjusted HR per 10% increase, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88–1.11).

Conclusions

Pretreatment HE4 levels and ROMA scores are not independent prognostic factors for DSS and PFS after multivariable adjustment in patients with ovarian cancer.

Serum HE4, CA125, YKL-40, bcl-2, cathepsin-L and prediction optimal debulking surgery, response to chemotherapy in ovarian cancer

Background

The most important prognostic factor in the ovarian cancer is optimal cytoreduction. The neoadjuvant chemotherapy, an only optional method of treatment in this case and is still the subject of debate. The object of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of markers: CA 125, HE4, YKL-40 and bcl-2 as well as cathepsin L in predicting optimal cytoreduction and response to chemotherapy.

Methods

Sera were secured preoperatively. The division into groups was performed retrospectively depending on the method of treatment (surgery vs neoadjuvant chemotherapy) as well as on response to chemotherapy (sensitive vs resistant vs refractory). Comparisons were made between groups, and the diagnostic usefulness of tested proteins was examined.

Results

We found that statistically significant differences between primary operated patients and patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy were applicable only to the tumour markers (CA125 1206.79 vs 2432.38, p = 0.000191; HE4 78.87 vs 602.45, p = 0.000004; YKL-40 108.13 vs 203.96, p = 0.003991). Cathepsin-L and Bcl-2 were statistically insignificant. The cut-off point values were determined for the CA 125 (345 mIU/ml), HE4 (218.43 pmol/L) and YKL-40 (140.9 ng/ml). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were as follows: CA125 (83.3%; 75%; 80.6%; 78.3%), HE4 (86.6%; 91.3%; 92.9%; 84%) and YKL-40 (75%; 83.3%; 84%; 74.1%).

Conclusion

Among the tested proteins the HE4 marker appears to be helpful in forecasting of optimal cytoreduction and possibly also of the prediction of response to platinum analogues used in first-line treatment of ovarian cancer.

HE4 tumor marker concentration in neoplastic peritoneal effusion and in peritoneal fluid associated with benign gynecological diseases

Background

The aim of our study was to evaluate the behaviour of the human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) in the peritoneal fluid encountered in various female genital diseases.

Methods

We enrolled 139 patients, 40 with ovarian cancer (group I), 82 with benign diseases (group II), and 17 with other malignant neoplasms (group III). The HE4 tumor marker concentrations were determined in serum, in the peritoneal effusion and ovarian cyst/ tumor fluids, CA125 in the serum only. We compared the groups, examined correlations and determined corresponding ROC curves. We evaluated the relationship between the HE4 marker concentration in the peritoneal effusion in the group I, depending on the selected prognostic parameters.

Results

The HE4 median value between the study groups did not differ statistically significantly and were as follows: in group I 3322 pmol/L, in the group II 2150 pmol/L and in the group III 627 pmol/L (p = 0.206376 for the groups I and II, p = 0.05929 for the groups I and III and p = 0.0797 for the groups II and III. In group I there were no differences found in the HE4 concentrations in the peritoneal fluid, depending on the stage, grade, the presence of neoplastic cells and the peritoneal dissemination.

Conclusions

The HE4 marker concentrations in the peritoneal fluid are highly irrespective of the pathology observed in the female sexual organ. Therefore, it seems that its determinations in the peritoneal fluid are completely useless in terms of diagnostics. More research is needed on the role of the HE4 marker, especially the place of its formation and possible use in the targeted therapy.