Comparative analysis of protein expression between oesophageal adenocarcinoma and normal adjacent tissue

Oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) is the 7th most common cancer in the United Kingdom (UK) and remains a significant health challenge. This study presents a proteomic analysis of seven OAC donors complementing our previous neoantigen identification study of their human leukocyte antigen (HLA) immunopeptidomes. Our small UK cohort were selected from donors undergoing treatment for OAC. We used label-free mass spectrometry proteomics to compare OAC tumour tissue to matched normal adjacent tissue (NAT) to quantify expression of 3552 proteins. We identified differential expression of a number of proteins previously linked to OAC and other cancers including common markers of tumourigenesis and immunohistological markers, as well as enrichment of processes and pathways relating to RNA processing and the immune system. Our findings also offer insight into the role of the protein stability in the generation of an OAC neoantigen we previously identified. These results provide independent corroboration of existing oesophageal adenocarcinoma biomarker studies that may inform future diagnostic and therapeutic research.