Serum biomarker panels for the diagnosis of gastric cancer

TLDR

Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality, yet early detection remains difficult due to a lack of effective biomarkers. The study aimed to evaluate novel serum biomarkers for gastric cancer using antibody microarray technology in patients and healthy controls. Antibody microarray profiling was performed on patient and control sera, and key findings were validated by ELISA. Eleven cytokines—including IFNGR1, Notch‑3, TNFRSF19L, GHR, SLAMF8, FR‑beta, integrin alpha‑5, galectin‑8, EphA1, epiregulin, and FGF‑12—were significantly elevated in gastric cancer patients, with ELISA confirmation and several proteins newly identified as potential early diagnostic and prognostic markers.

Abstract

Abstract Gastric cancer is a leading cause of mortality due to neoplastic disease. Although early detection of gastric cancers can decrease the mortality rate, it remains a diagnostic challenge because of the lack of effective biomarkers. In this study, fifteen gastric cancer patients and ten healthy subjects were recruited to assess novel serum biomarkers for gastric cancer using antibody microarray technology. ELISA was utilized to validate the antibody array results. As a result, compared to the controls, eleven cytokines were found to be significantly increased in gastric cancer, including interferon gamma receptor 1 (IFNGR1), neurogenic locus notch homolog protein 3 (Notch‐3), tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 19L (TNFRSF19L), growth hormone receptor (GHR), signaling lymphocytic activation molecule family 8 (SLAMF8), folate receptor beta (FR‐beta), integrin alpha 5, galectin‐8, erythropoietin‐producing hepatocellular A1 (EphA1), epiregulin, and fibroblast growth factor 12 (FGF‐12) with P < 0.05. ELISA validation supported the results of the antibody array. More importantly, most of these eleven cytokines, including IFNGR1, TNFRSF19L, GHR, SLAMF8, FR‐beta, and integrin alpha 5 were discovered to be elevated in gastric cancer serum samples for the first time in this study, suggesting that these proteins may serve as novel biomarkers for the early diagnosis and prognosis determination of gastric cancer.