Multiplex screening of 422 candidate serum biomarkers in bladder cancer patients identifies syndecan-1 and macrophage colony-stimulating factor 1 as prognostic indicators
Urothelial bladder cancer is the 9th most common type of cancer and identification of biomarkers using non-invasive methods could improve and accelerate clinical management. In the present study, Bryan et al. used PEA technology to assay disease-associated proteins in the sera of bladder cancer patients with the aim of identifying staging and prognostic biomarkers. Although none of the 422 candidate proteins showed clear discrimination of states of the disease, the multiplex screening revealed two prognostic indicators, syndecan-1 and macrophage colony stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1).
Development and validation of a plasma-based melanoma biomarker suitable for clinical use
The mortality rate of melanoma has steadily increased over the last 50 years, due to diagnostic imprecision and lack of molecular biomarkers. Using the multiplexed nCounter microRNA Assay from NanoString Technologies Van Laar el at. performed whole-microRNA profiling on plasma samples from 32 patients with histologically confirmed melanoma and 16 normal controls. A classification algorithm identified 38 circulating microRNAs that had biologically and statistically significant differences between melanoma and normal plasma samples. Due to the high specificity of the nCounter technology, this algorithm has a potential to become a tool for objective diagnostic biomarker discovery for a precise and accurate detection and monitoring of melanoma.
Serum microRNAs as predictors of risk for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in the development of nearly all cancer types and may function as promising biomarkers for early detection, diagnosis and prognosis. Using the Fluidigm Biomark HD system Lian et al. sought to investigate the role of serum miRNA as potential diagnostic biomarkers for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Eighty-nine stably detected miRNAs were tested in 10 NMIBC cases and 10 healthy controls to assess the association with NMIBC risk in both discovery and validation. Seven miRNAs were found to be significantly associated with NMIBC, suggesting that specific serum miRNA signatures may serve as non-invasive predictors of NMIBC risk.