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Circulating SOD2 Is a Candidate Response Biomarker for Neoadjuvant Therapy in Breast Cancer
Mercè Juliachs1, Mireia Pujals1, Chiara Bellio1
1Vall d'Hebron Institut of Oncology (VHIO), 08035 Barcelona, Spain.
Cancers
|August 26, 2022
Summary
Manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2), a robust protein, shows increased levels in breast cancer patients responding to chemotherapy. Measuring SOD2 may offer a new non-invasive tool for monitoring cancer therapy effectiveness.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Oncology
Background:
- Non-invasive tools are needed to monitor early molecular responses to cancer therapy.
- Proteolytically resistant proteins are under-sampled but could serve as reliable circulating tumor biomarkers.
- Manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2) was identified as a candidate due to its proteolytic resistance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis that proteolytically resistant proteins, specifically SOD2, can serve as circulating tumor biomarkers for cancer therapy.
- To evaluate SOD2 as a potential non-invasive indicator of therapeutic response in breast cancer.
Main Methods:
- Assessed the proteolytic resistance and structural basis of SOD2.
- Correlated SOD2 release with cell death in breast cancer cells following chemotherapy.
- Measured circulating SOD2 levels in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy.
Main Results:
- SOD2's proteolytic resistance is linked to its quaternary structure.
- SOD2 release correlated with chemotherapy-induced cell death in breast cancer cells.
- Circulating SOD2 levels increased in patients who responded to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, indicated by tumor shrinkage.
Conclusions:
- Circulating SOD2 levels can potentially serve as a non-invasive biomarker for monitoring therapeutic treatment response in breast cancer.
- This approach may aid in real-time assessment of tumor response to various cancer therapies.
- Further research could uncover more circulating biomarkers for real-time cancer therapy monitoring.
