Abstract
Background: Developing a novel, efficient biomarker for detecting malignant tumors is essential for the early diagnosis of cancers. Our aim was to assess the diagnostic value of a potential plasma tumor marker, thioredoxin reductase (TR), which is expressed in many types of malignant tumor, for the non-invasive detection of cancers. Methods: The plasma activities of TR were measured in 1513 patients with common clinical diseases, 59 patients with benign tumors, and 154 patients with cancers and 586 healthy controls. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of TR and logistic regression results of different groups were compared by sensitivity, specificity and Youden’s index. Diagnostic cut-offs and clinical reference intervals were established via ROC curve analysis. Results: The logistic regression indicated that TR activity can discriminate between cancers and benign tumors or other common diseases very well (p
Highlights
Cancer is the second most common cause of death worldwide, exceeded only by heart disease, and accounts for nearly 1 in every 4 deaths
thioredoxin reductase (TR) activities in each group were non-normally distributed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (p < 0.01), and non-parametic tests were used in the following statistical analysis
TR is an important part of thioredoxin system that is involved in many central intracellular and extracellular processes including cell proliferation, redox regulation of gene expression and signal transduction, protection against oxidative stress, inhibition of apoptosis, growth factor and co-cytokine response, and regulation of the redox state of the extracellular environment [2]
Summary
Cancer is the second most common cause of death worldwide, exceeded only by heart disease, and accounts for nearly 1 in every 4 deaths. Developing a novel, efficient biomarker for detecting malignant tumors is essential for the early diagnosis of cancers. Our aim was to assess the diagnostic value of a potential plasma tumor marker, thioredoxin reductase (TR), which is expressed in many types of malignant tumor, for the non-invasive detection of cancers. Methods: The plasma activities of TR were measured in 1513 patients with common clinical diseases, 59 patients with benign tumors, and 154 patients with cancers and 586 healthy controls. Results: The logistic regression indicated that TR activity can discriminate between cancers and benign tumors or other common diseases very well (p < 0.0001), with an area under the curve from the receiver-operator characteristics between 0.91 and 0.96. Conclusions: As a novel potential marker of malignant tumors with quantitative evaluation of proliferation, TR activity detection has an excellent diagnostic potential for early-stage malignant tumors. Impact: The convenient, economical, relatively non-invasive, and reproducible detection method of TR activity makes it suitable for routine clinical practice
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