Combined PIVKA II and Vimentin-Guided EMT Tracking in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Combined Biomarker-Guided EMT Tracking in PDAC

• Published in: Cancers Vol. 16; no. 13; p. 2362
• Main Authors: Farina, Antonella, Viggiani, Valentina, Cortese, Francesca, Moretti, Marta, Tartaglione, Sara, Angeloni, Antonio, Anastasi, Emanuela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27.06.2024
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma; Biomarkers; Blood & organ donations; Cell activation; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Liver cancer; Medical prognosis; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic carcinoma; Patients; Phenotypes; Prothrombin; Tumor markers; Vimentin; Vitamin K; Rome Italy; Italy; Vimentin; PIVKA II; PDAC; EMT; biomarkers
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers16132362

“Background/Aim”: the current inability to diagnose Pancreatic Cancer Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) at an early stage strongly influences therapeutic strategies. Protein Induced by Vitamin K Absence (PIVKA II) showed an accurate diagnostic performance for PDAC. Since circulating PIVKA II has been recently associated with pancreatic origin cells with Vimentin, an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) early activation marker, the aim of this study was to investigate in vivo the combination between the two proteins. “Materials and Methods”: we assayed the presence of PIVKA II and Vimentin proteins by using different diagnostic methods. A total of 20 PDAC patients and 10 healthy donors were tested by Western Blot analysis; 74 PDAC patient and 46 healthy donors were assayed by ECLIA and Elisa. “Results”: Western Blot analysis showed the concomitant expression of PIVKA II and Vimentin in PDAC patient sera. Immunometric assay performed on a larger cohort of patients demonstrated that 72% of PIVKA II-positive PDAC patients were Vimentin-positive. Additionally, in a group of PDAC patients with PIVKA II levels ≥2070 ng/mL, the percentage of Vimentin-positive subjects reached 84%. “Conclusion“: the association between PIVKA II protein and the EMT suggests that this molecule could be considered a marker of the acquisition of an aggressive phenotype.