Screening for Multiple Autoantibodies in Plasma of Patients with Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Autoantibodies have potential as circulating biomarkers for early cancer detection. This study aimed to screen for known autoantibodies in human plasma using an Autoantibody Profiling System (APS) and quantify the levels in plasma of donors with/without breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Plasma from nine female donors diagnosed with breast cancer (test group) and nine matched donors with no personal history of cancer (reference group) were screened with an APS containing probes for 30 autoantibodies. Autoantibody levels ≥1.5 times the mean concentration of the group were considered elevated, and test/reference ratios ≥1.3 were considered higher in the test group compared to the reference group. RESULTS: Twenty percent of the probes detected elevated levels of autoantibodies against proteins involved in different cancer mechanisms. Amongst these, the levels of autoantibodies against interleukin 29 (IL29), osteoprotegerin (OPG), survivin (SUR), growth hormone (GRH) and resistin (RES) were significantly higher in the cancer group compared to the reference group (p<0.05), whereas the level of autoantibody against cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA4) was not significantly different between the two groups (p=0.38). CONCLUSION: Disease-relevant autoantibodies were detected in the plasma of patients with breast cancer and donors without breast cancer. This means that identifying the type and level of autoantibodies in samples will be important in determining their significance in the disease process. A microtiter plate-based array system could be a fast and inexpensive screening method for identifying and quantifying autoantibodies in human plasma.

A Low-density Antigen Array for Detection of Disease-associated Autoantibodies in Human Plasma.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The ability to easily detect autoantibodies will help in the early diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases. Currently, available methods for autoantibody detection are time-consuming and cumbersome. The present study aimed to evaluate the performance of an easy-to-use antigen array developed for autoantibody detection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Plasma from 9 female donors diagnosed with ovarian cancer (test group) and 9 matched donors with no history of cancer (reference group) were screened and results were compared. Autoantibody levels ≥1.5-times the background were classified as positive. RESULTS: A total of 29 autoantibodies were detected, out of which the autoantibody against osteoprotegerin was found to be significantly higher in the "test" group (p<0.001) while those against macrophage migration inhibitor factor, interleukin-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor were lower (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The evaluated antigen array has potential as a simple method for determining the presence/absence of up to 90 disease-associated autoantibodies in a plasma specimen.