title: Gene expression correlation for cancer diagnosis: a pilot study.
abstract: Poor prognosis for late-stage, high-grade, and recurrent cancers has been motivating cancer researchers to search for more efficient biomarkers to identify the onset of cancer. Recent advances in constructing and dynamically analyzing biomolecular networks for different types of cancer have provided a promising novel strategy to detect tumorigenesis and metastasis. The observation of different biomolecular networks associated with normal and cancerous states led us to hypothesize that correlations for gene expressions could serve as valid indicators of early cancer development. In this pilot study, we tested our hypothesis by examining whether the mRNA expressions of three randomly selected cancer-related genes PIK3C3, PIM3, and PTEN were correlated during cancer progression and the correlation coefficients could be used for cancer diagnosis. Strong correlations (0.68 ≤ r ≤ 1.0) were observed between PIK3C3 and PIM3 in breast cancer, between PIK3C3 and PTEN in breast and ovary cancers, and between PIM3 and PTEN in breast, kidney, liver, and thyroid cancers during disease progression, implicating that the correlations for cancer network gene expressions could serve as a supplement to current clinical biomarkers, such as cancer antigens, for early cancer diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Drug Discovery and Development Research Group, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E5.
authors.forename: Binbing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: Drug Discovery and Development Research Group, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E5.
authors.forename: Lifeng
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4893-8105
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre, University of Saskatchewan, 120 Veterinary Road, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E3.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Drug Discovery and Development Research Group, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5E5.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4935-7380
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D018450:Disease Progression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger