Biomarker Insights

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has a high rate of recurrence, in particular for advanced disease, but prognosis based on staging and pathology at surgery can have limited efficacy. The presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) at diagnosis could be used to improve the prediction for disease recurrence. OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of detecting methylated BCAT1/IKZF1 ctDNA at diagnosis in combination with demographic, lifestyle, clinical factors and tumor pathology, to assess predictive value for recurrence...

BACKGROUND: Immunohistochemical prognostic significance of the homologous recombination-related proteins RAD51, ATM, BRCA1, and BRCA2 is known in gastric adenocarcinoma, one of the deadliest cancers. OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: This retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate mRNA expression and promoter methylation of some homologous recombination-related genes in this neoplasm. METHODS: We evaluated mRNA expression and methylation of RAD51 , ATM , ATR , BRCA1 , and BRCA2 in tumor and non-tumor frozen samples from gastrectomy specimens by RT-qPCR and MS-HRM, correlating our results with previous immunohistochemistry data and prognostic features...

BACKGROUND: Inflammation plays a critical role in sepsis. The integration of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelets-to-lymphocytes ratio (PLR) from multiple cell types offers a novel approach to rapidly assess inflammation status. However, the predictive role of NLR and PLR in sepsis with lymphopenia remains uncertain. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the prognostic value of NLR and PLR in sepsis patients with lymphopenia. DESIGN AND METHODS: In this observational retrospective study, we included 172 sepsis patients with lymphopenia and collected clinical characteristics for analysis...

BACKGROUND: Deregulation in the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPA/uPAR) system is reported in many diseases where the immune system is activated. During SARS-CoV-2 infection, a rise in soluble uPAR (suPAR) levels has been detected and its concentration above 6 µg/L predicts worsening to severe respiratory failure 14 days earlier, with a positive predictive value of 85.9%, and was the prerequisite for a treatment with anakinra, a recombinant IL-1 receptor antagonist that blocks the activity of both IL-1α and IL-1β...

Cancer is a complex and heterogeneous disease that poses a significant threat to global health. Early diagnosis and treatment are critical for improving patient outcomes, and the use of liquid biopsies has emerged as a promising approach for cancer detection and monitoring. Traditionally, cancer diagnosis has relied on invasive tissue biopsies, the collection of which can prove challenging for patients and the results of which may not always provide accurate results due to tumor heterogeneity. Liquid biopsies have gained increasing attention as they provide a non-invasive and accessible source of cancer biomarkers, which can be used to diagnose cancer, monitor treatment response, and detect relapse...

Due to diagnostic improvements, medical diagnostics is demanding non-invasive or minimally invasive methods. Non-invasively obtained body fluids (eg., Urine, serum) can replace cerebral fluid, amniotic fluid, synovial fluid, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and others for diagnostic reasons. Many illnesses are induced by perturbations of cellular signaling pathways and associated pathway networks as a result of genetic abnormalities. These disturbances are represented by a shift in the protein composition of the fluids surrounding the tissues and organs that is, tissue interstitial fluid (TIF)...

Precision medicine for oncology requires the evaluation of variants identified in molecular profiling of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. This includes evaluation of pre-analytical and postanalytical quality metrics, variant interpretation, classification, and tiering as outlined in established guidelines, association with clinical significance such as FDA approved drugs and clinical trials, and finally comprehensive reporting. This study documents our experience with the customization and implementation of a software platform that facilitates these requirements for effective reporting of somatic variants...

BACKGROUND: The focus of the present Letter is on the large and seemingly fertile body of work captured under the umbrella of 'patient stratification'. OBJECTIVES: I identify and explain a fundamental methodological flaw underlying the manner in which the development of an increasingly large number of new stratification strategies is approached. DESIGN: I show an inherent conflict between the assumptions made, and the very purpose of stratification and its application in practice...

INTRODUCTION: Measurement of biomarkers early after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) might provide a cost-effective and widely available tool to assess infarct severity, myocardial dysfunction, and clinical outcomes. We aimed to induce AMI in miniature pigs, measure the levels of serum biomarkers and global LV function dynamically and explore the release kinetics and optimal sampling time points of copeptin and its correlation with global LV function. METHODS: We induced AMI in the experimental group using a closed-chest model...

BACKGROUND: The use of biomarkers varies from disease etiognosis and diagnosis to signal detection, risk prediction, and management. Biomarker use has expanded in recent years, however, there are limited reviews on the use of biomarkers in pharmacovigilance and specifically in the monitoring and management of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). OBJECTIVE: The objective of this manuscript is to identify the multiple uses of biomarkers in pharmacovigilance irrespective of the therapeutic area...

BACKGROUND: Club cell secretory protein (CC16) has demonstrated utility as a lung-specific biomarker in predicting mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). These findings have been observed in pre-clinical trials and a re-analysis of a large, randomized controlled trial of ARDS (Fluid and Catheter Treatment Trial (FACTT)). OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to validate previous findings by evaluating CC16 level as a mortality predictor in patients from the albuterol to treat acute lung injury (ALTA) trial...

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infection (UTI) affects half of women at least once in their lifetime. Current diagnosis involves urinary dipstick and urine culture, yet both methods have modest diagnostic accuracy, and cannot support decision-making in patient populations with high prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria, such as older adults. Detecting biomarkers of host response in the urine of hosts has the potential to improve diagnosis. OBJECTIVES: To synthesise the evidence of the diagnostic accuracy of novel biomarkers for UTI, and of their ability to differentiate UTI from asymptomatic bacteriuria...

Next-generation sequencing-based genomic profiling facilitates biomarker detection by cell-free DNA (cfDNA) liquid biopsy. However, the efficiency of mutation calling and the prognostic value of cfDNA biomarkers are disputed. We investigated 24 patients with gastric cancer in this study, using a 605-gene sequencing panel to sequence their plasma cfDNA and tumor tissue DNA. The mutation concordance between plasma cfDNA and tumor tissue DNA was 70.6% in stage IV gastric cancer and 30.2% in stage III gastric cancer, indicating insufficient mutation detection rates in stage III and early-stage cancer...

BACKGROUND: Prostanoids are a family of lipid mediators formed from arachidonic acid by cyclooxygenase enzymes and serve as biomarkers of vascular function. Prostanoid production may be different in males and females indicating that different therapeutic approaches may be required during disease. OBJECTIVES: We examined sex-dependent differences in COX-related metabolites in genetically modified mice that produce a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) enzyme containing a tyrosine 385 to phenylalanine (Y385F) mutation...

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs are short nucleotide sequences that contribute to the regulation of various biological functions and therefore their roles have been investigated in many pathologic conditions such as epithelial to mesenchymal transition in cancer and fibrosis; among them, miR-138 has been mostly studied in cancer biology and is well-known for its suppressing effect on cancer progression. Being able to suppress major pathways involved in EMT, miR-138 could be a good candidate to be investigated in fibrotic responses too...

BACKGROUND: Biobanks have been supporting longitudinal prospective and retrospective studies by providing standardized services for the acquisition, transport, processing, storage, and distribution of high-quality biological material and associated data. Here, we describe how the Dog Aging Project (DAP), a large-scale longitudinal study of the domestic dog ( Canis familiaris ) with translational applications for humans, developed a biobank of canine biospecimens and associated data. DESIGN AND METHODS: This was accomplished by working with the Cornell Veterinary Biobank, the first biobank in the world to receive accreditation to ISO 20387:2018-General Requirements for Biobanking...

Background: Preterm neonates, particularly extremely preterm, are susceptible to respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) due to surfactant deficiency. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the antioxidant enzymes influence the balance between antioxidant and oxidative stress molecules. Objectives: To ascertain the role of SNPs of antioxidant enzymes and oxidative stress biomarkers in preterm neonates with RDS. Design: Observational, cross-sectional study...

BACKGROUND: Biomarkers of lung injury and interstitial fibrosis give insight about the extent of involvement and prognosis in well-known interstitial lung diseases (ILD). Serum Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) reflects direct alveolar injury and, transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) are principal mediators of fibrosis in ILD and in almost all fibrotic diseases. In this sense, we aimed to assess associations of these biomarkers with traditional inflammatory markers and clinical course of COVID-19...

Objective: Ewing Sarcoma Family of Tumors (ESFT) are a highly aggressive pediatric bone and soft tissue malignancy with poor outcomes in the refractory and recurrent setting. Over 90% of Ewing Sarcoma (ES) tumors are driven by the pathognomonic EWS-ETS chimeric transcripts and their corresponding oncoproteins. It has been suggested that the EWS-ETS oncogenic action can mediate microRNA (miRNA) processing. Importantly, small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), including those frequently referred to as exosomes have been shown to be highly enriched with tumor-derived small RNAs such as miRNAs...

Background: Extracellular vesicles (EV) released from neurons into the blood can reflect the state of nervous tissue. Measurement of neuron derived EV (NDE) may serve as an indicator of brain injury. Methods: A sandwich immunoassay was established to measure plasma NDE using anti-neuron CD171 and anti-EV CD9 ([CD171 + CD9+ ]). Plasma samples were obtained from commercial sources, cross-country (n = 9), football (n = 22), soccer (n = 19), and rugby (n = 18) athletes over time...