CEA as a blood-based biomarker in anal cancer

Using Tumor-Informed Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA)-Based Testing for Patients with Anal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Anal squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA) is an uncommon malignancy with a rising incidence that has a high cure rate in its early stages. There is an unmet need for a reliable method to monitor response to treatment and assist in surveillance. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing has shown great promise in other solid tumors for monitoring disease progression and detecting relapse in real time. This study aimed to determine the feasibility and use of personalized and tumor-informed ctDNA testing in SCCA.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We analyzed real-world data from 251 patients (817 plasma samples) with stages I-IV SCCA, collected between 11/5/19 and 5/31/22. The tumor genomic landscape and feasibility of ctDNA testing was examined for all patients. The prognostic value of longitudinal ctDNA testing was assessed in patients with clinical follow-up (N = 37).

RESULTS

Whole-exome sequencing analysis revealed PIK3CA as the most commonly mutated gene, and no associations between mutations and stage. Anytime ctDNA positivity and higher ctDNA levels (MTM/mL) were associated with metastatic disease (P = .004). For 37 patients with clinical follow-up, median follow-up time was 21.0 months (range: 4.1-67.3) post-diagnosis. For patients with stages I-III disease, anytime ctDNA-positivity after definitive treatment was associated with reduced DFS (HR: 28.0; P = .005).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrates the feasibility of personalized and tumor-informed ctDNA testing as an adjunctive tool in patients with SCCA as well as potential use for detection of molecular/minuteimal residual disease, and relapse during surveillance. Prospective studies are needed to better evaluate the use of ctDNA testing in this indication.

PSG7 indicates that age at diagnosis is associated with papillary thyroid carcinoma: A study based on the cancer genome atlas data

The age of the patients at diagnosis (age at diagnosis) is a self-contained element of danger for the prognosis of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), which has been well recognized and continuously adopted by the international cancer staging system. However, few studies have investigated its intrinsic mechanisms. In this study, we aim to comprehensively reveal the age-related pathogenesis of PTC and identify potential prognostic biomarkers. We divided the samples into two groups, young and elderly, to filter differentially expressed genes in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), with an age of 55 years serving as a cutoff. Moreover, we combined univariate, LASSO, and multivariate Cox regression analyses to construct age-related signatures for predicting progression-free survival. Additionally, functional enrichment analysis, immune infiltration analysis, differential expression analysis, clinicopathological correlation analysis, and drug sensitivity analysis were performed in different risk subgroups and expression subgroups. We screened 88 upregulated genes and 58 downregulated genes. Both the LASSO regression model that is validated in TCGA and the model of six age-related prognostic genes (IGF2BP1, GPRC6A, IL37, CRCT1, SEMG1, and PSG7) can be used to evaluate the progression-free survival of PTC patients. The GO, KEGG, and GSEA analyses revealed that each key gene was closely associated with PTC development. Furthermore, CD8⁺ T cells decreased significantly, while regulatory T cells increased dramatically in the high-risk and PSG7 high expression groups. PSG7 was remarkably correlated with clinicopathological parameters (pathologic stage, T stage, and N stage) of PTC patients, and PSG7 expression was elevated in tumor samples from both TCGA and the Gene Expression Omnibus and was strongly associated with progressive stage and poor prognosis. Our results provide an innovative understanding of the age-related molecular mechanisms of PTC development. PSG7 was identified to exert a critical role in PTC progression and may serve as a promising strategy for predicting the prognosis of PTC.

Recent developments on nanomaterial-based optical biosensor as potential Point-of-Care Testing (PoCT) probe in carcinoembryonic antigen detection: A review

For the past decades, several cancer biomarkers have been exploited for rapid and accurate prognosis or diagnosis purposes. In this review, the optical biosensor is targeted for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) detection. The CEA level is a prominent parameter currently used in clinical cases for the prognosis of cancer-related diseases. Many nanomaterial-based biosensors are invented as alternatives for the commonly used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) immunoassay method in CEA detection as the traditional approach but they possess certain drawbacks such as tedious procedure, high technical demand, and costly. Nevertheless, the effort appears to be wasted as none of them are being actualised. Generally, the sensor function was carried out by converting bio-signals generated upon the interface of the receptor into light signals. These sensors were popular due to specific advantages such as sensitivity, being free from chemical and electromagnetic interferences, wide dynamic range, and being easy to be monitored. The features of PoC diagnostics are discussed and associated with the various applications of colorimetric-based and chemiluminescent-based biosensors. The roles of nanomaterials in each application were also summarised by comparing the modification, incubation period, lowest detection limit (LOD) and linear range of detection amount. The challenges and future perspectives were highlighted at the end of the review.