Upregulation of Synuclein-γ and Snai1 Contributes to Poor Clinical Prognosis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients

Synuclein-γ (SNCG) and Snai1 play an important role in the occurrence and development of different types of malignant tumors. However, the association between SNCG and Snai1 and the effect of their combination on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the expression of SNCG and Snai1 in OSCC tissues and their role in the genesis, development, diagnosis, and prognosis of OSCC. In this study, we first analyzed the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to determine the expression of SNCG and Snai1 in OSCC. And we also evaluated the correlation between the expression of SNCG and Snai1 and clinical pathological parameters in OSCC from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Then, the expression of SNCG and Snai1 in OSCC and its adjacent tissues in our experimental cohort were detected by qRT-PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry, and the relationship between their expression and clinical pathological parameters were analyzed. At the same time, the correlation between the expression of SNCG and Snai1 was analyzed from the TCGA, GEO database, and our experimental cohort. Next, the ROC curves were constructed to explore the diagnostic value of SNCG and Snai1 in OSCC. Finally, the survival curves were drawn, and the univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to determine the prognostic value of SNCG and Snai1 in OSCC. The study found that SNCG and Snai1 were highly expressed in OSCC tissues. The expression of SNCG was related to the differentiation of OSCC, while that of Snai1 was related to the T stage, lymph node metastasis, clinical stage, and differentiation. Besides, the expression of SNCG in OSCC was positively correlated with that of Snai1. In addition, we also found that SNCG and Snai1 could well distinguish OSCC patients from normal people; especially, the combined diagnosis of SNCG and Snai1 had a better effect, with a specificity up to 96.67%. Moreover, SNCG-negative/Snai1-negative OSCC patients had the best prognosis. Multivariate analysis displayed that SNCG-positive expression was an independent risk factor for prognosis in OSCC patients. The results of this study strongly suggested that SNCG and Snai1 might have a cooperative effect in the occurrence and development of OSCC. They may become new markers for the diagnosis and prognosis of OSCC.

Correlations between serum cetuximab and EGFR-related markers, and skin disorders in head and neck cancer patients

PURPOSE

Cetuximab inhibits epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling in cancer and skin cells, thereby inducing anti-cancer effects and skin disorders. The present study aimed to evaluate the relationships between serum cetuximab and EGFR-related markers, and adverse effects in head and neck cancer patients.

METHODS

Thirty-four head and neck cancer patients receiving weekly intravenous cetuximab were enrolled. Serum cetuximab levels were determined just before dosing. Blood samples for determination of serum EGFR-related markers including soluble epidermal growth factor receptor (sEGFR) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were obtained. The severities of skin disorders, their medications, and hypomagnesemia treatment were also assessed.

RESULTS

Serum levels of cetuximab and sEGFR were negatively and positively correlated with that of IL-6, respectively. The serum cetuximab level was twofold higher in the patients with a grade 2-3 skin rash than with a grade 0-1 rash. The serum cetuximab cutoff value related to severe skin rash was 71 μg/mL (sensitivity, 59%; and specificity, 94%). The use of a strong topical corticosteroid for skin rash was also associated with a higher serum cetuximab level. Serum levels of sEGFR and IL-6 had no correlations with the skin disorder severities or their medications. Hypomagnesemia treatment using intravenous magnesium sulfate was not related to serum cetuximab and EGFR-related markers.

CONCLUSIONS

Head and neck cancer patients with a higher serum IL-6 level tended to have a lower serum cetuximab level. Serum cetuximab had positive correlations to skin rash severity and its medication in the study population.

Glycoproteomic identification of novel plasma biomarkers for oral cancer

Oral cancer with high incidence rates is occurring in many countries including in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. Smoking, alcoholism, and betel nut chewing are considered to be the main risk factors for oral cancer. Further, deaths from oral cancer have increased year by year. Although several oral cancer-associated biomarkers have been reported, very few useful biomarkers have been applied for early diagnosis. Therefore, the investigation of oral cancer-specific biomarkers is urgently needed. We previously investigated N-glycomes of oral cancer cells and patient plasma. We found that both mRNA levels of FUT8 and core-fucosylated glycoproteins increase in cases of oral cancer relative to normal cases. In this study we aim to discover novel core-fucosylated glycoprotein biomarkers for oral cancer diagnosis with glycoproteomic approaches. First, forty plasma samples obtained from the Human Bioinformation Bank of NCKUH were subjected to AAL (Aleuria aurantia lectin) affinity chromatography. Core-fucosylated proteins were collected and applied for LC-MS/MS followed by electrophoresis. Fourteen proteins were identified, and expression levels of proteins in plasma were verified by western blot. Expression levels of some glycoproteins were elevated in the oral cancer group, including ceruloplasmin, haptoglobin, and leucin-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1). However, levels of some glycoproteins decreased in the cancer group, including apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I) and apolipoprotein A-IV (apo A-IV). Via ELISA analysis, we found that apo A-IV and apo A-IV/total protein ratios were decreased in plasma accompanied with cancer stages. The LRG1/total protein ratio was found to increase while plasma levels of LRG1 were not found to differ between the oral cancer plasma and normal groups. An ROC curve analysis reveals strong diagnosis performance when combining apo A-IV levels and LRG1/total protein ratios. Taken together, apo A-IV and LRG1, given their strong performance in detecting oral cancer, can serve as useful biomarkers and may be used as a useful tool for oral cancer screening and early diagnosis.

Identification of salivary metabolomic biomarkers for oral cancer screening

The objective of this study was to explore salivary metabolite biomarkers by profiling both saliva and tumor tissue samples for oral cancer screening. Paired tumor and control tissues were obtained from oral cancer patients and whole unstimulated saliva samples were collected from patients and healthy controls. The comprehensive metabolomic analysis for profiling hydrophilic metabolites was conducted using capillary electrophoresis time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In total, 85 and 45 metabolites showed significant differences between tumor and matched control samples, and between salivary samples from oral cancer and controls, respectively (P < 0.05 correlated by false discovery rate); 17 metabolites showed consistent differences in both saliva and tissue-based comparisons. Of these, a combination of only two biomarkers yielded a high area under receiver operating characteristic curves (0.827; 95% confidence interval, 0.726-0.928, P < 0.0001) for discriminating oral cancers from controls. Various validation tests confirmed its high generalization ability. The demonstrated approach, integrating both saliva and tumor tissue metabolomics, helps eliminate pseudo-molecules that are coincidentally different between oral cancers and controls. These combined salivary metabolites could be the basis of a clinically feasible method of non-invasive oral cancer screening.

Diagnostic accuracy of serum biomarkers for head and neck cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Serum biomarkers could be helpful to characterize head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Thus, the purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the diagnostic capability of serum biomarkers in the assessment of HNSCC patients. Studies were gathered by searching LILACS, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science up to April 10th, 2015. Studies that focused on serum biomarkers in the diagnosis of HNSCC compared with controls were considered. Sixty-five studies were identified, and the sample size included 9098 subjects. Combined biomarkers demonstrated improved accuracy than those tested individually. Therefore, 12.8% of single and 34.3% of combined indicated that serum biomarkers discriminate patients with HNSCC from controls. The combined biomarkers with better diagnostic capability included Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)+Cyclin D1 and squamous cell cancer-associated antigen (SCCA)+EGFR+Cyclin D1. Beta2-microglobin may also be a promising single biomarker for future studies. Serum biomarkers can be potentially useful in the diagnosis of HNSCC. However, further research is required to validate these biomarkers.

A sensitive electrochemical immunosensor for the detection of squamous cell carcinoma antigen by using PtAu nanoparticles loaded on TiO2colloidal spheres as labels

A sensitive sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensor for detection of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) was developed by using PtAu nanoparticles loaded on TiO₂colloidal spheres (PtAu/TiO₂) as secondary-antibody (Ab₂) labels.