Circulating levels of autoantibodies against L1-cell adhesion molecule as a potential diagnostic biomarker in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common malignant disease worldwide, especially in China. We aimed to determine the level of autoantibodies against L1CAM in patients with ESCC.


METHODS
Levels of circulating autoantibodies against L1CAM antigens were determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in cohort 1 (191 patients with ESCC and 94 normal controls) and validated in cohort 2 (47 patients with ESCC and 47 normal controls). Receiver-operating characteristics were employed to calculate diagnostic accuracy. Cumulative survival time was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed by the log-rank test.


RESULTS
In cohorts 1 and 2, levels of autoantibodies against L1CAM were all significantly higher in sera of patients with ESCC compared to normal controls (P < 0.05). Detection of autoantibodies against L1CAM provided a sensitivity of 26.2%, a specificity of 90.4%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.603 (95% CI 0.535-0.672) in diagnosing ESCC in cohort 1, and a sensitivity of 27.7%, a specificity of 91.5%, and an AUC of 0.628 (95% CI 0.516-0.741). Similar results were observed in the diagnosis of early stage ESCC (25.2% sensitivity, 90.4% specificity, and an AUC of 0.611 (95% CI 0.533-0.689) in cohort 1, and 33.3% sensitivity, 91.5% specificity, and an AUC of 0.636 (95% CI 0.439-0.832) in cohort 2). Moreover, positive rates of autoantibodies against L1CAM had no statistical correlation with clinical outcome of ESCC (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that circulating autoantibodies against L1CAM is a potential biomarker for the early detection of ESCC.
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, The Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.|The Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.
Y-W
YW
Xu
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, The Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.|The Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.
Y-H
YH
Peng
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.
L-Q
LQ
Ran
Department of Radiation Oncology, The Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.
T-T
TT
Zhai
Department of Head and Neck Surgery, The Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.
H-P
HP
Guo
The Breast Center, The Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China.
S-Q
SQ
Qiu
Department of Surgical Oncology, Shantou Central Hospital, Shantou, China.
H-L
HL
Chen
Department of Surgical Oncology, Shantou Central Hospital, Shantou, China.
Z-Y
ZY
Wu
The Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. nmli@stu.edu.cn.|Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. nmli@stu.edu.cn.
E-M
EM
Li
The Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology for High Cancer Incidence Coastal Chaoshan Area, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. g_jjxie@stu.edu.cn.|Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China. g_jjxie@stu.edu.cn.
J-J
JJ
Xie
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000556:secondary / Q000628:therapy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1 / Q000276:immunology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D015996:Survival Rate
D001323:Autoantibodies; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D039842:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1
Autoantibodies; Diagnosis; Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; L1CAM; Sera