Autoantibody profiles as biomarkers of breast cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women in the United States. While mammography and breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) improve detection of early disease, there remains an unmet need for biomarkers for risk stratification, early detection, prediction, and disease prognosis. Sera from patients with breast cancer contain specific autoantibodies (AAb) to tumor antigens that develop as part of the natural immune response to cancer-associated changes in protein structure and expression. The recent development of proteomic tools for AAb detection, including protein microarrays, reverse-phase protein immunoblots, and phage display have identified a number of potential AAb biomarkers for clinical development. Immune response signatures have been identified that are highly specific, but with variable sensitivities for cancer detection. This review focuses on the detection and application of AAb signatures as biomarkers for breast cancer detection and monitoring.

Autoantibodies against TYMS and PDLIM1 proteins detected as circulatory signatures in Indian breast cancer patients

“…The generation of AAbs can be trigged by overexpression, aberrant posttranslation modifications, and protein misfolding of TAAs . Furthermore, AAbs are subjected to efficient biological amplification, which makes them easily measurable for detection than their corresponding antigens in blood . Since, AAbs are highly stable in blood and can be identified during asymptomatic stages of cancer , therefore, these circulatory AAbs hold a great potential for early diagnosis of BC.…”

Tumor-Associated and Systemic Autoimmunity in Pre-Clinical Breast Cancer among Post-Menopausal Women

“…Notably, some reactivity was observed for antigens typically associated with systemic autoimmune diseases. Thus, while anti-TAA antibodies are sensitive markers that may help identify the presence of early tumors [7,8,10,11], understanding their relationship with systemic autoimmunity is critical to determining their utility as screening biomarkers in the clinical setting.…”

Recognition of tumor antigens in 4T1 cells by natural IgM from three strains of mice with different susceptibilities to spontaneous breast cancer

“…A growing body of evidence suggests that patients with cancer develop antibodies against a variety of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9). This has led to the theory that autoantibodies may be used as a tool for the early diagnosis of cancer.…”