Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma--Circulating Status of Vaspin and Retinol Binding Protein-4 in Iranian Patients

The role of rs2236242 at SERPINA12 gene and vaspin level on papillary thyroid carcinoma

Several studies showed that adipokines are associated with types of cancer which are documented to be effective in cancer biology. This study aimed to determine the relationship between vaspin rs2236242 polymorphism and the vaspin level with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), and multinodular goiter (MNG). In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 170 candidates. Ninety patients with newly diagnosed (PTC 60 patients and MNG 30 patients), and 80 participants as a control group referred to Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran, were enrolled in the study. The vaspin hormone measurements were conducted utilizing the Elisa Kit. Using Tetra amplification resistant-mutation system polymerase chain reaction (T-ARMS-PCR), the genotype of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2236242 was determined. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software version 20. Our findings showed significant age and genotype frequency differences in three groups (p-value < 0.05). There was no significant difference in vaspin levels between PTC, and control groups. The level of vaspin in MNG compared to the control group had significantly different, but there were no differences after adjustment for age. Results showed the genotypes of vaspin rs2236242 polymorphism are not associated with the level of vaspin. The genotypes and allele frequencies of vaspin rs2236242 in the PTC and MNG groups were significant compared to the control group. We have found vaspin rs2236242 gene polymorphism as a potential marker of papillary thyroid cancer. The A allele of the vaspin SNP rs2236242 plays a protective role against PTC and MNG. SNP at rs2236242 was not significantly associated with vaspin levels.

MOAI: a multi-outcome interaction identification approach reveals an interaction between vaspin and carcinoembryonic antigen on colorectal cancer prognosis

Identifying and characterizing the interaction between risk factors for multiple outcomes (multi-outcome interaction) has been one of the greatest challenges faced by complex multifactorial diseases. However, the existing approaches have several limitations in identifying the multi-outcome interaction. To address this issue, we proposed a multi-outcome interaction identification approach called MOAI. MOAI was motivated by the limitations of estimating the interaction simultaneously occurring in multi-outcomes and by the success of Pareto set filter operator for identifying multi-outcome interaction. MOAI permits the identification for the interaction of multiple outcomes and is applicable in population-based study designs. Our experimental results exhibited that the existing approaches are not effectively used to identify the multi-outcome interaction, whereas MOAI obviously exhibited superior performance in identifying multi-outcome interaction. We applied MOAI to identify the interaction between risk factors for colorectal cancer (CRC) in both metastases and mortality prognostic outcomes. An interaction between vaspin and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was found, and the interaction indicated that patients with CRC characterized by higher vaspin (≥30%) and CEA (≥5) levels could simultaneously increase both metastases and mortality risk. The immunostaining evidence revealed that determined multi-outcome interaction could effectively identify the difference between non-metastases/survived and metastases/deceased patients, which offers multi-prognostic outcome risk estimation for CRC. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a multi-outcome interaction associated with a complex multifactorial disease. MOAI is freely available at https://sites.google.com/view/moaitool/home.

Review: Vaspin (SERPINA12) Expression and Function in Endocrine Cells

Proper functioning of the body depends on hormonal homeostasis. White adipose tissue is now known as an endocrine organ due to the secretion of multiple molecules called adipokines. These proteins exert direct effects on whole body functions, including lipid metabolism, angiogenesis, inflammation, and reproduction, whereas changes in their level are linked with pathological events, such as infertility, diabetes, and increased food intake. Vaspin-visceral adipose tissue-derived serine protease inhibitor, or SERPINA12 according to serpin nomenclature, is an adipokine discovered in 2005 that is connected to the development of insulin resistance, obesity, and inflammation. A significantly higher amount of vaspin was observed in obese patients. The objective of this review was to summarize the latest findings about vaspin expression and action in endocrine tissues, such as the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adipose tissue, thyroid, ovary, placenta, and testis, as well as discuss the link between vaspin and pathologies connected with hormonal imbalance.

Serum and Saliva Levels of Cancer Antigen 15-3, Carcinoembryonic Antigen, Estradiol, Vaspin, and Obestatin as Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women

OBJECTIVE

To find suitable biomarkers for diagnosis of Breast cancer in serum and saliva; also, to examine the correlation between salivary and serum concentrations of suitable biomarkers.

METHODS

This case-control study included 30 women with breast cancer as a case group and 30 healthy women as a matched control group. Blood and saliva specimens were collected from all participants. We evaluated serum and salivary cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), estradiol, vaspin, and obestatin concentrations. Mann-Whitney U testing and Spearman correlation coefficients were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Serum and salivary concentrations of estradiol were significantly higher in patients with breast cancer (BC) than in healthy women (P < .05). Also, serum CEA and salivary obestatin concentrations were significantly higher in BC patients than in the control group (P < .05). However, there was no significant difference between other parameters in patients with BC and controls. We observed a positive correlation between serum and salivary concentrations of CA15-3, as well as a negative correlation between serum and salivary concentrations of vaspin and obestatin.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study demonstrated that concentrations of CEA and estradiol in serum, obestatin in serum and saliva, and estradiol in saliva were significantly different between the 2 groups.

Effect of Baseline Characteristics and Tumor Burden on Vaspin Expression and Progressive Disease in Operable Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is a highly heterogeneous malignancy in the Asian population, and it is considered an important prognostic factor for baseline characteristics, tumor burden, and tumor markers. This study investigated the effect of baseline characteristics and tumor burden on tumor marker expression and progressive disease in colorectal cancer by using partial least squares variance-based path modeling (PLS-PM). PLS-PM can be used to evaluate the complex relationship between prognostic variables and progressive disease status with a small sample of measurements and structural models. A total of 89 tissue samples of colorectal cancer were analyzed. Our results suggested that the expression of visceral adipose tissue-derived serpin (vaspin) is a potential indicator of colorectal cancer progression and may be affected by baseline characteristics such as age, sex, body mass index, and diabetes mellitus. Moreover, according to the characteristics of tumor burden, the expression of vaspin was generally higher in each progressive disease patient. The overall findings suggest that vaspin is a potential indicator of the progressive disease and may be affected by the baseline characteristics of patients.

Medullary thyroid cancer is associated with high serum vitamin D level and polymorphism of vitamin D receptors

Background

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. Studies have observed an anti-cancer effect for vitamin D and found that polymorphisms of vitamin D receptors can influence the prevalence of various cancers. The present study investigated the serum level of vitamin D and FokI, BsmI and Tru9I polymorphisms of vitamin D receptors.

Methods

Forty patients with medullary thyroid cancer and 40 healthy controls were investigated. The genomic DNA of the subjects was extracted using saturated salt/proteinase K and investigated by PCR sequencing. Serum levels of vitamin D were evaluated by ELISA. The results were analyzed in SPSS and GraphPad Prism 5 software.

Results

The genotypic and allelic frequencies of FokI and BsmI polymorphisms showed no significant differences between test and control groups. For Tru9I polymorphism, Tt genotype and t allelic frequency in the test group were significantly different from those of the control group. Also, we found Tt genotype and t allelic frequency to be significantly associated with medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) type and the agressiveness of the disease. The average serum vitamin D level was 23.32 ng/mL and 18.95 ng/mL for patients and controls, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. Moreover, we found high serum vitamin D level to be associated with t allelic frequency.

Conclusions

Unexpectedly, the mean serum vitamin D level of the test group was significantly higher than that of the control group. Tru9I polymorphism was found to be significantly correlated with the prevalence of medullary thyroid carcinoma.

Urinary Proteomics Profiles Are Useful for Detection of Cancer Biomarkers and Changes Induced by Therapeutic Procedures

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a binary cancer treatment modality where two different agents (¹⁰B and thermal neutrons) have to be present to produce an effect. A dedicated trial design is necessary for early clinical trials. The concentration of ¹⁰B in tissues is an accepted surrogate to predict BNCT effects on tissues. Tissue, blood, and urines were sampled after infusion of two different boron carriers, namely BSH and BPA in the frame of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) trial 11001. In this study, urine samples were used to identify protein profiles prior and after drug infusion during surgery. Here, an approach that is based on the mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic analysis of urine samples from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and thyroid cancer patients is presented. This method allowed the identification of several inflammation- and cancer-related proteins, which could serve as tumor biomarkers. In addition, changes in the urinary proteome during and after therapeutic interventions were detected. In particular, a reduction of three proteins that were involved in inflammation has been observed: Galectin-3 Binding Protein, CD44, and osteopontin. The present work represents a proof of principle to follow proteasome changes during complex treatments based on urine samples.

Circulating levels of PTEN and KLLN in papillary thyroid carcinoma: can they be considered as novel diagnostic biomarkers?

PURPOSE

PTEN and KLLN are two tumor suppressor genes located in 10q23, share a bidirectional promoter and have roles in carcinogenesis. Formerly, the role of PTEN mutations and KLLN epimutations were identified in incidence of thyroid lesions in individuals with Cowden syndrome, a rare autosomal dominant inherited disorder. This study is the first of its type to assess PTEN and KLLN circulating levels in patients with sporadic papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and compare to patients with multinodular goiter (MNG) and healthy individuals.

METHODS

Plasma levels of PTEN and KLLN were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in three groups consisted of PTC (n = 33), MNG (n = 26) and healthy persons (n = 30). The association of demographic/pathological characteristics with the levels of PTEN and KLLN were evaluated.

RESULTS

A significant lower plasma levels of PTEN and KLLN were observed in PTC patients compared with those of healthy persons (PTEN, 9.43 ± 3.20 vs. 16.96 ± 1.28 ng/ml, P = 0.000; KLLN, 1.81 ± 0.83 vs. 2.57 ± 1.09 ng/ml, P = 0.005), while no statistical difference was found between PTC and MNG groups. Patients with MNG lesion had significantly lower levels of PTEN/KLLN (PTEN, 9.62 ± 2.97 vs. 16.96 ± 1.28 ng/ml, P = 0.000; KLLN, 1.34 ± 0.86 vs. 2.57 ± 1.09 ng/ml, P = 0.000) compared to the healthy controls. The demographic/pathological characteristics did not demonstrate an association with the levels of PTEN and KLLN.

CONCLUSIONS

The study suggests that the lowered levels of PTEN and KLLN are associated with both sporadic PTC and MNG tumorigenesis, but they cannot be considered as circulating biomarkers for differential diagnosis between malignancy and benignity in indeterminate thyroid nodules.

NOVEL MARKERS FOR EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND PROGNOSTIC CLASSIFICATION IN MEDULLARY THYROID CARCINOMA

Medullary thyroid carcinoma is a neuroendocrine tumour of the parafollicular C cells of the thyroid gland. It is an aggressive tumor that can be cured only by complete resection of the thyroid tumour and any local and regional metastases. Thus, the discovery of novel diagnostic and prognostic markers is very important for early diagnosis and correct management, in order for the survival rates to rise. New research has emphasized the potential role of various genes, serum and immunohistochemical markers, as well as potential targets for therapeutic agents. The calcium stimulated calcitonin test has been recently reintroduced in clinical practice, and current medullary thyroid carcinoma guidelines encourage laboratories to set their own criteria defining reference ranges for elevated serum basal and stimulated calcitonin levels.

Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidant Status in Patients with Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Case-Control Study

INTRODUCTION

Oxidative stress or oxidant/antioxidant imbalance has a crucial role in the pathogenesis of some diseases like cancer. Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) originates in the thyroid parafollicular cells and includes 3-4% of the malignant neoplasms that have an effect on this gland. The aetiology of MTC has not been clarified. However, oxidative stress may be one of the factors involved.

AIM

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the antioxidant enzyme activity of catalase (CAT), Glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and the levels of the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA) in blood samples of MTC patients as compared to healthy controls.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A case-control study was designed enrolling patients with confirmed MTC diagnosis and age-and sex group matched healthy volunteers referred to the clinic of the Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Tehran, Iran from April 2013 to July 2015. Fasting blood samples were taken for study. Catalase, GSH, MDA and TAC levels were measured by colorimetry using commercial kits (ZellBio GmbH, Germany). Data were analysed using SPSS 17 software, comparing mean±SD through t-test and difference between proportions through chi-square.

RESULTS

No statistical difference was observed in the demographic characteristic between cases and controls. The final MTC group included 40 males and 45 females with a mean age of 30±12.9 year, and the control group 40 males and 47 females, with a mean age of 31.2±12.3 year. Anthropometric parameters, dietary and thyroid hormones levels (T3, T4 and TSH) were similar. Serum TAC (p=0.015), GSH (p=0.029) and CAT (p<0.001) levels were found to be significantly lower in the MTC patients, while serum MDA levels were significantly higher in MTC patients than controls (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

These preliminary findings suggest that oxidant/antioxidant imbalance may be associated with or possibly indicate an increased risk to medullary thyroid carcinoma. Further studies are needed to explore these findings.