Bonotti A, Foddis R, Landi S, Melaiu O, De Santi C, Giusti L, Donadio E, Ciregia F, Mazzoni M R, Lucacchini A, Bovenzi M, Comar M, Pantani E, Pistelli A, Cristaudo A
Operative Unit of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Department of Translational Research and of New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Dis Markers. 2017;2017:3510984. doi: 10.1155/2017/3510984. Epub 2017 Feb 28.
Exposure to asbestos is the main cause of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), a highly aggressive cancer of the pleura. Since the only tools for early detection are based on radiological tests, some authors focused on serum markers (i.e., mesothelin). The aim of this study was the evaluation of new serum biomarkers to be used individually or in combination, in order to improve the outcome of patients whose disease would be diagnosed at an earlier stage. Serum and plasma were available from 43 subjects previously exposed to asbestos and 27 MPM patients, all being epithelioid type. All the new markers found differentially expressed in MPM and healthy subjects, by proteomic and genomic approaches, have been validated in the serum by the use of specific ELISA. The combined approach, using tools of genomics and proteomics, is found to be highly innovative for this type of disease and led to the identification of new serum markers in the diagnosis of MPM. These results, if confirmed in a larger series, may have a strong impact in this area, because early detection of this cancer in people at high risk could significantly improve the course of the disease and the clinical approach to an individualized therapy.
接触石棉是恶性胸膜间皮瘤（MPM）的主要病因，MPM是一种侵袭性很强的胸膜癌症。由于早期检测的唯一手段基于放射学检查，一些作者将重点放在了血清标志物（如间皮素）上。本研究的目的是评估单独或联合使用的新型血清生物标志物，以改善疾病在早期阶段被诊断出的患者的治疗结果。43名既往接触过石棉的受试者和27名MPM患者（均为上皮样类型）提供了血清和血浆。通过蛋白质组学和基因组学方法在MPM患者和健康受试者中发现差异表达的所有新型标志物，均已通过使用特异性酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）在血清中得到验证。发现使用基因组学和蛋白质组学工具的联合方法对于此类疾病具有高度创新性，并在MPM诊断中鉴定出新型血清标志物。这些结果如果在更大规模的研究中得到证实，可能会对该领域产生重大影响，因为在高危人群中早期检测出这种癌症可显著改善疾病进程以及个体化治疗的临床方法。
