Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




AKAP4 Identified as Accurate Biomarker for the Detection of Early Stage Lung Cancer

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 14 Jun 2015
An initial survey identified the protein AKAP4 (A-kinase anchor protein 4) as a potential biomarker that could effectively distinguish between patients with and without non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The A-kinase anchor proteins (AKAPs) are a group of structurally diverse proteins, which have the common function of binding to the regulatory subunit of protein kinase A (PKA) and confining the holoenzyme to discrete locations within the cell. In addition, AKAP4, which normally is localized to the sperm flagellum and may be involved in the regulation of sperm motility, is one of the cancer testis antigens (CTAs) that are widely expressed in tumor tissues, circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and in cancer derived exosomes that are frequently engulfed by lymphoid cells.

Investigators at The Wistar Institute (Philadelphia, PA, USA) examined the possibility that tumor-derived CTA mRNAs could be detected in the total RNA pool obtained from purified peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of NSCLC patients. To this end, they assayed for the expression of 116 CTAs in PBMC RNA.

Results pointed to the protein AKAP4 as a potential NSCLC biomarker. The investigators validated the usefulness of AKAP4 as a highly accurate biomarker in a cohort of 264 NSCLC patients and 135 controls from two different sites including a subset of controls with high risk lung nodules.

When all 264 lung cancer patients were compared with all 135 controls, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.9714. When 136 stage I NSCLC lung cancers were compared with all controls, the AUC was 0.9795, and when all lung cancer patients were compared to 27 controls with histologically confirmed benign lung nodules, a comparison of significant clinical importance, the AUC was 0.9825.

AKAP4 expression increased significantly with tumor stage but was independent of age, gender, smoking history, or cancer subtype. Follow-up studies in a small number of resected NSCLC patients revealed a decrease of AKAP4 expression post-surgical resection that remained low in patients in remission and increased with tumor recurrence.

"The results of this study exceeded our expectations," said senior author Dr. Qihong Huang, associate professor in the tumor microenvironment and metastasis program at The Wistar Institute. "AKAP4 appears to be a highly effective biomarker for the detection of non-small cell lung cancer. If we are able to confirm these results in a more robust study, then we have the potential for a new, more accurate screening method that could help save many, many lives. There are many people who stand to benefit from a better diagnostic test for lung cancer. If we can develop a simple blood test that is more accurate than low-dose CT scans, we can detect the cancer earlier with a less expensive, less invasive, and more accurate blood test. Everyone stands to gain from such a test becoming available."

The NSCLC biomarker paper was published in the May 13, 2015, online edition of the journal Oncotarget.

Related Links:

The Wistar Institute



Gold Member
Fully Automated Cell Density/Viability Analyzer
BioProfile FAST CDV
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Fecal DNA Extraction Kit
QIAamp PowerFecal Pro DNA Kit
New
Malaria Test
STANDARD Q Malaria P.f/Pan Ag
Read the full article by registering today, it's FREE! It's Free!
Register now for FREE to LabMedica.com and get access to news and events that shape the world of Clinical Laboratory Medicine.
  • Free digital version edition of LabMedica International sent by email on regular basis
  • Free print version of LabMedica International magazine (available only outside USA and Canada).
  • Free and unlimited access to back issues of LabMedica International in digital format
  • Free LabMedica International Newsletter sent every week containing the latest news
  • Free breaking news sent via email
  • Free access to Events Calendar
  • Free access to LinkXpress new product services
  • REGISTRATION IS FREE AND EASY!
Click here to Register








Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.