Wang Yulin, Liu Fenghui, OuYang Songyun, Liu Man, Zhang Xue, Wang Peng, Zhao Chunling, Zhang Liguo, Dai Liping
Henan Institute of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Academy of Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China.
Henan Key Laboratory of Tumor Epidemiology & State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China.
Immunol Res. 2021 Feb;69(1):71-80. doi: 10.1007/s12026-021-09174-8. Epub 2021 Jan 25.
The aim of this study was to explore the potential value of autoantibody to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the diagnosis of lung cancer (LC) and its relation with EGFR mutations. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to detect the level of autoantibody to EGFR in sera from 254 LC patients and 222 normal controls (NCs). Besides, the mRNA and protein levels of EGFR were investigated in Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) and Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database, respectively. The level of autoantibody to EGFR (anti-EGFR) in LC even different types of LC was obviously higher than that in NC (P < 0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of anti-EGFR was 0.695 (95% CI 0.645-0.742) when comparing LC patients with NC, while the AUC of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was 0.681 (95% CI 0.629-0.730). Moreover, by integrating anti-EGFR with CEA to diagnose LC, the AUC was up to 0.784 (95% CI 0.737-0.826). However, the expression level of autoantibody to EGFR had no difference between LC patients with and without EGFR gene mutation (P > 0.05). EGFR mRNA expression level was obviously upregulated in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) tissues compared with normal tissues (P < 0.05), but not in adenocarcinoma (ADC) (P > 0.05). The study confirmed that anti-EGFR could be a potential biomarker for LC diagnosis; additionally, it could improve the diagnostic value of CEA in clinical work.
本研究旨在探讨表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）自身抗体在肺癌（LC）诊断中的潜在价值及其与EGFR突变的关系。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）检测254例LC患者和222例正常对照（NC）血清中EGFR自身抗体水平。此外，分别在基因表达谱交互式分析（GEPIA）和人类蛋白质图谱（HPA）数据库中研究EGFR的mRNA和蛋白质水平。LC患者甚至不同类型LC患者中EGFR自身抗体（抗EGFR）水平明显高于NC患者（P<0.05）。将LC患者与NC患者进行比较时，抗EGFR的曲线下面积（AUC）为0.695（95%CI 0.645-0.742），而癌胚抗原（CEA）的AUC为0.681（95%CI 0.629-0.730）。此外，将抗EGFR与CEA联合用于诊断LC时，AUC高达0.784（95%CI 0.737-0.826）。然而，EGFR基因突变的LC患者与未发生EGFR基因突变的LC患者之间，EGFR自身抗体表达水平无差异（P>0.05）。与正常组织相比，鳞状细胞癌（SCC）组织中EGFR mRNA表达水平明显上调（P<0.05），但腺癌（ADC）组织中无明显上调（P>0.05）。该研究证实，抗EGFR可能是LC诊断的潜在生物标志物；此外，它可以提高CEA在临床工作中的诊断价值。
