Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 19, 2026
Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 2, 2013
Biofluid quantification of TWEAK/Fn14 axis in combination with a selected biomarker panel improves assessment of
Xavier Ruiz-Plazas1,2, Esther Rodríguez-Gallego3, Marta Alves2
1Disease Biomarkers and Molecular Mechanisms Group, IISPV, Joan XXIII University Hospital, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, University Hospital of Tarragona Joan XXIII, C/Dr. Mallafré Guasch, 4, 43007, Tarragona, Spain.
Background:
Conventional clinical biomarkers cannot accurately differentiate indolent from aggressive prostate cancer (PCa). We investigated the usefulness of a biomarker panel measured exclusively in biofluids for assessment of PCa aggressiveness.
Methods:
We collected biofluid samples (plasma/serum/semen/post-prostatic massage urine) from 98 patients that had undergone radical prostatectomy. Clinical biochemistry was performed and several cytokines/chemokines including soluble(s) TWEAK, sFn14, sCD163, sCXCL5 and sCCL7 were quantified by ELISA in selected biofluids. Also, the expression of KLK2, KLK3, Fn14, CD163, CXCR2 and CCR3 was quantified by real-time PCR in semen cell sediment. Univariate, logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to assess the predictive ability of the selected biomarker panel in conjunction with clinical and metabolic variables for the evaluation of PCa aggressiveness.
Results:
Total serum levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), semen levels of sTWEAK, fasting glycemia and mRNA levels of Fn14, KLK2, CXCR2 and CCR3 in semen cell sediment constituted a panel of markers that was significantly different between patients with less aggressive tumors [International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) grade I and II] and those with more aggressive tumors (ISUP grade III, IV and V). ROC curve analysis showed that this panel could be used to correctly classify tumor aggressiveness in 90.9% of patients. Area under the curve (AUC) analysis revealed that this combination was more accurate [AUC = 0.913 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.782-1] than a classical non-invasive selected clinical panel comprising age, tumor clinical stage (T-classification) and total serum PSA (AUC = 0.721 95% CI 0.613-0.830).
Conclusions:
TWEAK/Fn14 axis in combination with a selected non-invasive biomarker panel, including conventional clinical biochemistry, can improve the predictive power of serum PSA levels and could be used to classify PCa aggressiveness.
Related Concept Videos
13:19Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
07:34Enhancing Prostate Tumor Biobanking Reliability with Improved Sampling Technique and Histological Characterization
11:29miRNA Expression Analyses in Prostate Cancer Clinical Tissues
07:16Isolation of Cancer Stem Cells From Human Prostate Cancer Samples
08:03Generation of Prostate Cancer Patient Derived Xenograft Models from Circulating Tumor Cells
05:07Intra-prostatic Injection of Cancer Cells: A Technique to Deliver Cancer Cells for Establishing Orthotopic Prostate Cancer Mouse Model