Development of a salivary autoantibody biomarker panel for diagnosis of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma

• Published in: Frontiers in oncology Vol. 12; p. 968570
• Main Authors: Hsueh, Pei-Chun, Chang, Kai-Ping, Liu, Hao-Ping, Chiang, Wei-Fan, Chan, Xiu-Ya, Hung, Chu-Mi, Chu, Lichieh Julie, Wu, Chih-Ching
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A 31.10.2022
• Subjects: autoantibody; biomarker; cancer screening; Oncology; oral cancer; saliva
• ISSN: 2234-943X; 2234-943X
• DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.968570

Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a destructive disease with increasing incidence. OSCC is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, which leads to poor outcomes of OSCC patients. Currently, there is a lack of biomarkers with sufficient effectiveness in early diagnosis of OSCC. To ameliorate OSCC screening, we evaluated the performances of salivary autoantibodies (auto-Abs) to nine proteins (ANXA2, CA2, ISG15, KNG1, MMP1, MMP3, PRDX2, SPARC, and HSPA5) as OSCC biomarkers. A multiplexed immunoassay using a fluorescence bead-based suspension array system was established for simultaneous assessment of the salivary levels of the above nine auto-Abs and a known OSCC-associated auto-Ab, anti-p53. Compared to healthy individuals ( n = 140), the salivary levels of nine auto-Abs were significantly elevated in OSCC patients ( n = 160). Notably, the salivary levels of the 10 auto-Abs in the early-stage OSCC patients ( n = 102) were higher than that in the healthy group. Most importantly, utilizing a marker panel consisting of anti-MMP3, anti-PRDX2, anti-SPARC, and anti-HSPA5 for detection of early-stage OSCC achieved a sensitivity of 63.8% with a specificity of 90%. Collectively, herein we established a multiplex auto-Ab platform for OSCC screening, and demonstrated a four-auto-Ab panel which shows clinical applicability for early diagnosis of OSCC.