From blood to breath: New horizons for esophageal cancer biomarkers

Abstract

Esophageal cancer is a lethal cancer encompassing adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma sub-types. The global incidence of esophageal cancer is increasing world-wide, associated with the increased prevalence of associated risk factors. The asymptomatic nature of disease often leads to late diagnosis and five-year survival rates of less than 15%. Current diagnostic tools are restricted to invasive and costly endoscopy and biopsy for histopathology. Minimally and non-invasive biomarkers of esophageal cancer are needed to facilitate earlier detection and better clinical management of patients. This paper summarises recent insights into the development and clinical validation of esophageal cancer biomarkers, focussing on circulating markers in the blood, and the emerging area of breath and odorant biomarkers.

Evaluation of Serum Glycoprotein Biomarker Candidates for Detection of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma and Surveillance of Barrett's Esophagus

“…Over the years, several studies have been carried out to identify circulatory biomarker candidates to diagnose BE-dysplasia-EAC disease spectrum (19,28). These studies have explored genetic alterations in cell free circulating DNA (29) …”

Upregulated forkhead‑box A3 elevates the expression of forkhead‑box A1 and forkhead‑box A2 to promote metastasis in esophageal cancer

“…These characteristics can be determined according to the TNM classification system. However, due to large tumor heterogeneity, the efficiency of the TNM system is limited in EC (32). Novel diagnostic and prognostic tools are therefore required to improve patient survival and clinical treatment efficacy.…”

Serum glycoprotein biomarker validation for esophageal adenocarcinoma and application to Barrett’s surveillance

“…This study advances our previous serum glycoprotein research (22,23) and provides a critical breakthrough towards developing cost-effective EAC surveillance. Over the years, several studies have been carried out to identify circulatory biomarker candidates to diagnose BEdysplasia-EAC disease spectrum (19,27). These studies have explored genetic alterations in cell free circulating DNA (28), serum miRNA changes (29), circulatory tumor cells (30), glycan profile alteration in serum (31,32), circulatory autoantibodies (against cancer antigens) (33), volatile organic compounds found in breath analysis (34), metabolic changes in urine (35), and a panel of serum proteins (36) as promising diagnostic biomarker candidates for BE and/or EAC.…”