Cancer Management and Research (Dec 2019)

Amyloid Beta (A4) Precursor Protein: A Potential Biomarker for Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

  • Li XY,
  • Meng HL,
  • Li KG,
  • Yang XH,
  • Zhu XD,
  • Li L,
  • Liang ZG,
  • Pan XB,
  • Zeng FY,
  • Qu S

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 11
pp. 10651 – 10656

Abstract

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Xiao-Yu Li,1,* Hui-Ling Meng,2,* Kai-Guo Li,1 Xiao-Hui Yang,1 Xiao-Dong Zhu,1,3 Ling Li,1 Zhong-Guo Liang,1 Xin-Bin Pan,1 Fan-Yan Zeng,1 Song Qu1,3 1Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Cancer Institute of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Radiation Oncology, Liuzhou People’s Hospital, Liuzhou, Guangxi 545000, People’s Republic of China; 3Key Laboratory of High-Incidence-Tumor Prevention & Treatment, Guangxi Medical University, Ministry of Education, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Song QuDepartment of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Cancer Institute of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail [email protected] and Aim: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most common cancers in Southern China, Southeast Asia. Radiotherapy is the main treatment for NPC. Still, about 20% of patients with NPC have a recurrence. No effective serum biomarkers are available for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (rNPC) to date. This study aimed to explore whether amyloid beta (A4) precursor protein (APP) might serve as a valuable diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for patients with rNPC.Methods: In a previous study, a tandem mass tag–based proteomic test was performed, which screened 59 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between nonrecurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (nrNPC) and rNPC. In this study, a protein–protein interaction was conducted to screen the key proteins among the 59 DEPs. APP was validated and evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 70 serum samples [recurrence (n = 35) and no-recurrence (n = 35)]. Also, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate the predictive value of APP.Results: The area under the ROC curve was 0.666 (95% CI: 0.514–0.818, P = 0.044). The best cutoff point of the relative expression levels for APP was 1.23 (concentration = 16.95 ng/mL), at which the sensitivity was 55.2% and the specificity was 90.9%.Conclusion: The findings indicated that APP might be a valuable diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for patients with rNPC.Keywords: amyloid beta precursor protein, biomarker, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, protein–protein interaction, recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma

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