Clinical development of a blood biomarker using apolipoprotein-A2 isoforms for early detection of pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: We have previously reported apolipoprotein A2-isoforms (apoA2-is) as candidate plasma biomarkers for early-stage pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study was the clinical development of apoA2-is. METHODS: We established a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent sandwich assay for apoA2-is under the Japanese medical device Quality Management System requirements and performed in vitro diagnostic tests with prespecified end points using 2732 plasma samples. The clinical equivalence and significance of apoA2-is were compared with CA19-9. RESULTS: The point estimate of the area under the curve to distinguish between pancreatic cancer (n = 106) and healthy controls (n = 106) was higher for apoA2-ATQ/AT [0.879, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.832-0.925] than for CA19-9 (0.849, 95% CI 0.793-0.905) and achieved the primary end point. The cutoff apoA2-ATQ/AT of 59.5 µg/mL was defined based on a specificity of 95% in 2000 healthy samples, and the reliability of specificities was confirmed in two independent healthy cohorts as 95.3% (n = 106, 95% CI 89.4-98.0%) and 95.8% (n = 400, 95% CI 93.3-97.3%). The sensitivities of apoA2-ATQ/AT for detecting both stage I (47.4%) and I/II (50%) pancreatic cancers were higher than those of CA19-9 (36.8% and 46.7%, respectively). The combination of apoA2-ATQ/AT (cutoff, 59.5 µg/mL) and CA19-9 (37 U/mL) increased the sensitivity for pancreatic cancer to 87.7% compared with 69.8% for CA19-9 alone. The clinical performance of apoA2-is was blindly confirmed by the National Cancer Institute Early Detection Research Network. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical performance of ApoA2-ATQ/AT as a blood biomarker is equivalent to or better than that of CA19-9.

Identification of activity-based biomarkers for early-stage pancreatic tumors in blood using single-molecule enzyme activity screening.

Single-molecule enzyme activity-based enzyme profiling (SEAP) is a methodology to globally analyze protein functions in living samples at the single-molecule level. It has been previously applied to detect functional alterations in phosphatases and glycosidases. Here, we expand the potential for activity-based biomarker discovery by developing a semi-automated synthesis platform for fluorogenic probes that can detect various peptidases and protease activities at the single-molecule level. The peptidase/protease probes were prepared on the basis of a 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin fluorophore. The introduction of a phosphonic acid to the core scaffold made the probe suitable for use in a microdevice-based assay, while phosphonic acid served as the handle for the affinity separation of the probe using Phos-tag. Using this semi-automated scheme, 48 fluorogenic probes for the single-molecule peptidase/protease activity analysis were prepared. Activity-based screening using blood samples revealed altered single-molecule activity profiles of CD13 and DPP4 in blood samples of patients with early-stage pancreatic tumors. The study shows the power of single-molecule enzyme activity screening to discover biomarkers on the basis of the functional alterations of proteins.

Apolipoprotein A2 isoforms associated with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in early chronic pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Apolipoprotein A2 (apoA2) isoforms have been reported to undergo the aberrant processing in pancreatic cancer and pancreatic risk populations compared with that in healthy subjects. This study aimed to clarify whether apoA2 isoforms were as useful as N-benzoyl-p-aminobenzoic acid (BT-PABA) test for exocrine pancreatic dysfunction markers in patients with early chronic pancreatitis (ECP). METHODS: Fifty consecutive patients with functional dyspepsia with pancreatic enzyme abnormalities (FD-P) (n = 18), with ECP (n = 20), and asymptomatic patients with pancreatic enzyme abnormalities (AP-P) (n = 12) based on the Rome IV classification and the Japan Pancreatic Association were enrolled in this study. The enrolled patients were evaluated using endoscopic ultrasonography and endoscopic ultrasonography elastography. Five pancreatic enzymes were estimated. Pancreatic exocrine function was analyzed using the BT-PABA test. Lighter and heavier apoA2 isoforms, AT and ATQ levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics such as age, gender, body mass index, alcohol consumption and smoking among patients with AP-P, FD-P, and ECP. The BT-PABA test and lighter apoA2 isoform, AT level in the enrolled patients had a significant correlation (P < 0.01). The BT-PABA test in patients with ECP was significantly lower (P = 0.04) than that in AP-P. ApoA2-AT level in patients with ECP was lower than that in AP-P, albeit, insignificantly. Interestingly, apo A2-AT level was significantly (P = 0.041) associated with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency by multiple logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: ApoA2-AT level is a useful tool to evaluate exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in the early stage of chronic pancreatitis.

Development of fluorogenic substrates for colorectal tumor-related neuropeptidases for activity-based diagnosis.

The M3 metalloproteases, neurolysin and THOP1, are neuropeptidases that are expressed in various tissues and metabolize neuropeptides, such as neurotensin. The biological roles of these enzymes are not well characterized, partially because the chemical tools to analyse their activities are not well developed. Here, we developed a fluorogenic substrate probe for neurolysin and thimet oligopeptidase 1 (THOP1), which enabled the analysis of enzymatic activity changes in tissue and plasma samples. In particular, the probe was useful for studying enzyme activities in a single-molecule enzyme assay platform, which can detect enzyme activity with high sensitivity. We detected the activity of neurolysin in plasma samples and revealed higher enzyme activity in the blood samples of patients with colorectal tumor. The result indicated that single-molecule neurolysin activity is a promising candidate for a blood biomarker for colorectal cancer diagnosis.

Noninvasive risk stratification of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasia with malignant potential by serum apolipoprotein-A2-isoforms.

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) are premalignant lesions of pancreatic cancer. An accurate serum biomarker, which allows earlier identification of asymptomatic individuals with high-risk for developing cancer, is of urgent need. Apolipoprotein A2-isoforms (apoA2-i) have previously been identified as biomarkers in pancreatic cancer. This study investigates a potential clinical application of the serum apoA2-i for risk stratification of IPMN and associated cancer. The concentrations of apoA2-i were retrospectively determined in 523 patient sera specimen, composed of 305 IPMNs with preinvasive lesions with different grades of dysplasia and invasive cancer, 140 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, 78 with other cystic lesions and healthy controls cohorts, using an apoA2-i enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The diagnostic performance of serum apoA2-i was assessed and compared to routine clinical marker CA 19-9. ApoA2-i levels were significantly reduced in all IPMN samples regardless of stage compared to healthy controls. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of IPMNs with high-grade dysplasia and IPMN with associated carcinoma revealed the area under curve (AUC) of 0.91 and >0.94, respectively. The respective sensitivities were 70% and 83% with a specificity of 95%, and significantly higher than the gold standard biomarker CA 19-9. AUC values of apoA2-i for detecting IPMN-associated carcinoma of colloid and ductal subtypes were 0.990 and 0.885, respectively. ApoA2-i has the potential to early detect the risk of malignancy of patients with IPMN. The serological apoA2-i test in combination with imaging modalities could help improve the diagnosis of IPMN malignancy. Further validation in larger and independent international cohort studies is needed.

Alpha-actinin-4 (ACTN4) gene amplification is a predictive biomarker for adjuvant chemotherapy with tegafur/uracil in stage I lung adenocarcinomas.

Although adjuvant tegafur/uracil (UFT) is recommended for patients with completely resected stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Japan, only one-third of cases has received adjuvant chemotherapy (ADJ) according to real-world data. Therefore, robust predictive biomarkers for selecting ADJ or observation (OBS) without ADJ are needed. Patients who underwent complete resection of stage I lung adenocarcinoma with or without adjuvant UFT were enrolled. The status of ACTN4 gene amplification was analyzed by FISH. Statistical analyses to determine whether the status of ACTN4 gene amplification affected recurrence-free survival (RFS) were carried out. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples from 1136 lung adenocarcinomas were submitted for analysis of ACTN4 gene amplification. Ninety-nine (8.9%) of 1114 cases were positive for ACTN4 gene amplification. In the subgroup analysis of patients aged 65 years or older, the ADJ group had better RFS than the OBS group in the ACTN4-positive cohort (hazard ratio [HR], 0.084, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.009-0.806; P = .032). The difference in RFS between the ADJ group and the OBS group was not significant in ACTN4-negative cases (all ages: HR, 1.214; 95% CI, 0.848-1.738; P = .289). Analyses of ACTN4 gene amplification contributed to the decision regarding postoperative ADJ for stage I lung adenocarcinomas, preventing recurrence, improving the quality of medical care, preventing the unnecessary side-effects of ADJ, and saving medical costs.

O-Glycan-Altered Extracellular Vesicles: A Specific Serum Marker Elevated in Pancreatic Cancer.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is among the most lethal malignancies due to an often delayed and difficult initial diagnosis. Therefore, the development of a novel, early stage, diagnostic PC marker in liquid biopsies is of great significance. In this study, we analyzed the differential glycomic profiling of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from serum (two cohorts including 117 PC patients and 98 normal controls) using lectin microarray. The glyco-candidates of PC-specific EVs were quantified using a high-sensitive exosome-counting system, ExoCounter. An absolute quantification system for altered glycan-containing EVs elevated in PC serum was established. EVs recognized by O-glycan-binding lectins ABA or ACA were identified as candidate markers by lectin microarray. Quantitative analyses using ExoCounter revealed that the ABA- or ACA-positive EVs were significantly increased in the culture of PC cell lines or in the serum of PC patients including carbohydrate antigen 19-9 negative patients with high area under curve values. The elevated numbers of EVs in PC serum returned to normal levels after pancreatectomy. Histological examination confirmed that the tumors stained with ABA/ACA. These specific EVs with O-glycans recognized by ABA/ACA are elevated in PC sera and can act as potential biomarkers in a liquid biopsy for PC patients screening.

Prospects for Comprehensive Analyses of Circulating Tumor Cells in Tumor Biology.

The comprehensive analysis of biological and clinical aspects of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has attracted interest as a means of enabling non-invasive, real-time monitoring of cancer patients and enhancing our fundamental understanding of tumor metastasis. However, CTC populations are extremely small when compared to other cell populations in the blood, limiting our comprehension of CTC biology and their clinical utility. Recently developed proteomic and genomic techniques that require only a small amount of sample have attracted much interest and expanded the potential utility of CTCs. Cancer heterogeneity, including specific mutations, greatly impacts disease diagnosis and the choice of available therapeutic strategies. The CTC population consists primarily of cancer stem cells, and CTC subpopulations are thought to undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition during dissemination. To better characterize tumor cell populations, we demonstrated that changes in genomic profiles identified via next-generation sequencing of liquid biopsy samples could be expanded upon to increase sensitivity without decreasing specificity by using a combination of assays with CTCs and circulating tumor DNA. To enhance our understanding of CTC biology, we developed a metabolome analysis method applicable to single CTCs. Here, we review-omics studies related to CTC analysis and discuss various clinical and biological issues related to CTCs.