Predictive Value of Serum Biomarkers in Prostate Cancer Progression

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Biomarker Discovery
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Prostate cancer diagnosis requires reliable biomarkers.
• Several molecules (NF-κB p65, ApoE, Ang-1, FOXA2, PEN-2, β-APP) are implicated in tumor biology.
• Their specific roles in prostate cancer progression and invasion need further study.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate serum levels of specific molecules as potential biomarkers for prostate cancer.
• To assess the diagnostic accuracy of these molecules in distinguishing between different stages of prostate cancer and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• Serum samples were collected from five groups: healthy controls, benign prostatic hyperplasia, non-treated prostate cancer, post-radical prostatectomy, and metastatic prostate cancer.
• Quantification of NF-κB p65, ApoE, Ang-1, FOXA2, PEN-2, and β-APP was performed using ELISA.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the area under the curve (AUC) for each biomarker's diagnostic accuracy.

Main Results:

• Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) (AUC = 0.83) and angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) (AUC = 0.81) showed the highest diagnostic accuracy.
• Presenilin enhancer-2 (PEN-2) (AUC = 0.81), forkhead box protein A2 (FOXA2) (AUC = 0.79), and β-amyloid precursor protein (β-APP) (AUC = 0.79) demonstrated moderate-to-good discrimination.
• NF-κB p65 (AUC = 0.76) exhibited moderate performance across disease stages.

Conclusions:

• Ang-1 and ApoE show promising potential for predicting prostate cancer progression.
• NF-κB p65 and PEN-2 have modest discriminative performance.
• FOXA2's diagnostic value was insufficient despite expression variation; larger cohort validation is needed for clinical application.