METCAM Is a Potential Biomarker for Predicting the Malignant Propensity of and as a Therapeutic Target for Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. This is because it is still unknown why indolent prostate cancer becomes an aggressive one, though many risk factors for this type of cancer have been suggested. Currently, many diagnostic markers have been suggested for predicting malignant prostatic carcinoma cancer; however, only a few, such as PSA (prostate-specific antigen), Prostate Health Index (PHI), and PCA3, have been approved by the FDA. However, each biomarker has its merits as well as shortcomings. The serum PSA test is incapable of differentiating prostate cancer from BPH and also has an about 25% false-positive prediction rate for the malignant status of cancer. The PHI test has the potential to replace the PSA test for the discrimination of BPH from prostate cancer and for the prediction of high-grade cancer avoiding unnecessary biopsies; however, the free form of PSA is unstable and expensive. PCA3 is not associated with locally advanced disease and is limited in terms of its prediction of aggressive cancer. Currently, several urine biomarkers have shown high potential in terms of being used to replace circulating biomarkers, which require a more invasive method of sample collection, such as via serum. Currently, the combined multiple tumor biomarkers may turn out to be a major trend in the diagnosis and assessment of the treatment effectiveness of prostate cancer. Thus, there is still a need to search for more novel biomarkers to develop a perfect cocktail, which consists of multiple biomarkers, in order to predict malignant prostate cancer and follow the efficacy of the treatment. We have discovered that METCAM, a cell adhesion molecule in the Ig-like superfamily, has great potential regarding its use as a biomarker for differentiating prostate cancer from BPH, predicting the malignant propensity of prostate cancer at the early premalignant stage, and differentiating indolent prostate cancers from aggressive cancers. Since METCAM has also been shown to be able to initiate the spread of prostate cancer cell lines to multiple organs, we suggest that it may be used as a therapeutic target for the clinical treatment of patients with malignant prostate cancer.

DNA Damage Repair Pathways in Prostate Cancer: A Narrative Review of Molecular Mechanisms, Emerging Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets in Precision Oncology

“…A summary of the up-to-date approved DDR targeting drugs/predictive biomarkers is shown in Table 1. Finally, indirect markers of oxidative DNA stress targeting less specific DNA repair pathways, such as 8-Hydroxy-2-Deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and 8-Iso-Prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2a), have been introduced recently in PCa [168]. They represent end-products of guanine oxidation and indicate the activation of cyclooxygenase-mediated inflamma-tion [168].…”

“…Finally, indirect markers of oxidative DNA stress targeting less specific DNA repair pathways, such as 8-Hydroxy-2-Deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and 8-Iso-Prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2a), have been introduced recently in PCa [168]. They represent end-products of guanine oxidation and indicate the activation of cyclooxygenase-mediated inflamma-tion [168]. Oxidative stress correlates with DNA damage and is implicated in carcinogenesis in various malignances [169].…”

A Quantitative Detection Algorithm for Multi-Test Line Lateral Flow Immunoassay Applied in Smartphones

“…Recently, the development of multi-test line and graded stepwise colloidal gold immunoassay methods has enabled semi-quantitative analysis based on the number of colored lines [ 6 ]. However, the visual assessment of these methods is often subjective and lacks accuracy, failing to meet the high precision requirements in applications such as tumor diagnosis [ 7 ] and drug concentration detection [ 8 ]. Subsequently, colorimetric methods [ 9 ] have been introduced to achieve quantitative analysis by comparing with known concentrations of standard substances.…”