Abstract
BackgroundThe long noncoding RNA MALAT1 (metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1) is described as a potential biomarker for NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer). Diagnostic biomarkers need to be detectable in easily accessible body fluids, should be characterized by high specificity, sufficient sensitivity, and robustness against influencing factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of MALAT1 as a blood based biomarker for NSCLC.ResultsMALAT1 was shown to be detectable in the cellular fraction of peripheral human blood, showing different expression levels between cancer patients and cancer-free controls. For the discrimination of NSCLC patients from cancer-free controls a sensitivity of 56% was calculated conditional on a high specificity of 96%. No impact of tumor stage, age, gender, and smoking status on MALAT1 levels could be observed, but results based on small numbers.ConclusionsThe results of this study indicate that MALAT1 complies with key characteristics of diagnostic biomarkers, i.e., minimal invasiveness, high specificity, and robustness. Due to its relatively low sensitivity MALAT1 might not be feasible as a single biomarker for the diagnosis of NSCLC in the cellular fraction of blood. Alternatively, MALAT1 might be applicable as a complementary biomarker within a panel in order to improve the entire diagnostic performance.
Highlights
The long noncoding RNA MALAT1 is described as a potential biomarker for NSCLC
Regarding the fourth key characteristic of diagnostic biomarkers, the results indicate that MALAT1 values in blood are not correlated with tumor size, metastasis status, or lymph node status
MALAT1 could be detected in peripheral blood, showing different expression levels between NSCLC patients and cancer-free controls
Summary
The long noncoding RNA MALAT1 (metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1) is described as a potential biomarker for NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer). Diagnostic biomarkers need to be detectable in accessible body fluids, should be characterized by high specificity, sufficient sensitivity, and robustness against influencing factors. The detection of lung cancer in early stages when clinical symptoms have not yet occurred appears to be a promising opportunity to decrease mortality, because in more cases a curative therapy might become possible. Biomarkers should be feasible for the detection of cancer in early stages. Key characteristics of diagnostic biomarkers among others are: (i) minimally-invasive to measure the biomarker in accessible body fluids, (ii) high specificity to avoid false-positive results in cancer-free individuals, (iii) sufficient sensitivity to detect the tumors, and (iv) robustness against potential influencing factors
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