Department of Biochemistry, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, U.P., India.
Department of Paediatric Orthopaedic, King George's Medical University, Lucknow U.P., India.
Cancer Treat Res Commun. 2021;28:100381. doi: 10.1016/j.ctarc.2021.100381. Epub 2021 Apr 22.
Osteosarcoma is the most prevalent type of primary bone sarcoma and is the major cause of deaths associated with cancer in children and adolescents. Despite novel and innovative therapies, early diagnosis of the osteosarcoma is still critically needed. Our study aimed to analyse the CCN3 proteins as a diagnostic marker and correlate their expression level with the severity of primary osteosarcoma patients.
In this prospective case-control study, after ethical clearance and informed consent, a total of 35 cases with primary osteosarcoma and ten otherwise healthy controls were enroled according to our strict inclusion-exclusion criteria. Tissue samples were collected during biopsy procedures in suspected cases and in controls during bone grafting procedures. The CCN3 expression level was measured by the western blotting assay. The clinic-radiological examinations were done in cases and graded according to the AJCC classification. Comparisons of CCN3 expression were measured between cases and controls, followed by correlation of their expression level with severity/grade of osteosarcoma in cases.
All the demographic parameters showed insignificant differences. The CCN3 protein expressions were significantly upregulated in tissue samples of osteosarcoma patients (cases) compared to controls. The mean difference (p<0.0001) in CCN3 protein expression between cases' and controls' bony tissues was significant but showed insignificant correlation with the different grades of osteosarcoma.
The upregulated CCN3 protein expression in osteosarcoma tissue along with significant differential manifestation in accordance with different grades of osteosarcoma make CCN3 suitable for a potential diagnostic biomarker. However, the author recommends further extensive multi-centric collaborative studies to increase our study reliability and generalizability.
骨肉瘤是最常见的原发性骨肉瘤，也是儿童和青少年癌症相关死亡的主要原因。尽管有新的创新疗法，但仍迫切需要早期诊断骨肉瘤。我们的研究旨在分析 CCN3 蛋白作为诊断标志物，并将其表达水平与原发性骨肉瘤患者的严重程度相关联。
在这项前瞻性病例对照研究中，在获得伦理批准和知情同意后，根据我们严格的纳入排除标准，共纳入 35 例原发性骨肉瘤患者和 10 例健康对照者。在疑似病例中通过活检程序收集组织样本，在对照组中通过植骨程序收集组织样本。通过 Western 印迹测定 CCN3 表达水平。对病例进行临床影像学检查，并根据 AJCC 分类进行分级。测量病例和对照组之间的 CCN3 表达差异，然后将其表达水平与病例中骨肉瘤的严重程度/分级相关联。
所有人口统计学参数均无显著差异。骨肉瘤患者（病例）组织样本中的 CCN3 蛋白表达明显上调，与对照组相比差异有统计学意义（p<0.0001）。病例和对照组骨组织中 CCN3 蛋白表达的平均差异具有统计学意义，但与骨肉瘤的不同分级无显著相关性。
骨肉瘤组织中 CCN3 蛋白表达上调，且与骨肉瘤不同分级的差异表现显著，使 CCN3 成为一种有潜力的诊断生物标志物。然而，作者建议进一步进行广泛的多中心合作研究，以提高我们研究的可靠性和普遍性。
