Untargeted longitudinal analysis of a wellness cohort identifies markers of metastatic cancer years prior to diagnosis

Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 1;10(1):16275. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-73451-z.

Abstract

We analyzed 1196 proteins in longitudinal plasma samples from participants in a commercial wellness program, including samples collected pre-diagnosis from ten cancer patients and 69 controls. For three individuals ultimately diagnosed with metastatic breast, lung, or pancreatic cancer, CEACAM5 was a persistent longitudinal outlier as early as 26.5 months pre-diagnosis. CALCA, a biomarker for medullary thyroid cancer, was hypersecreted in metastatic pancreatic cancer at least 16.5 months pre-diagnosis. ERBB2 levels spiked in metastatic breast cancer between 10.0 and 4.0 months pre-diagnosis. Our results support the value of deep phenotyping seemingly healthy individuals in prospectively inferring disease transitions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / blood*
  • Breast Neoplasms / blood
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Carcinoembryonic Antigen / blood
  • Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / blood
  • Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / diagnosis
  • Case-Control Studies
  • GPI-Linked Proteins / blood
  • Health Promotion / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Lung Neoplasms / blood
  • Lung Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Proteins / blood
  • Neoplasms / blood*
  • Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / blood
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Prospective Studies
  • Thyroid Neoplasms / blood
  • Thyroid Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • CEACAM5 protein, human
  • Carcinoembryonic Antigen
  • GPI-Linked Proteins
  • Neoplasm Proteins

Supplementary concepts

  • Thyroid cancer, medullary