TY - JOUR
T1 - Extracellular vesicles as potential biomarkers for diagnosis and recurrence detection of hepatocellular carcinoma
AU - Juratli, Mazen A.
AU - Pollmann, Nicola S.
AU - Oppermann, Elsie
AU - Mohr, Annika
AU - Roy, Dhruvajyoti
AU - Schnitzbauer, Andreas
AU - Michalik, Sabine
AU - Vogl, Thomas
AU - Stoecklein, Nikolas H.
AU - Houben, Philipp
AU - Katou, Shadi
AU - Becker, Felix
AU - Hoelzen, Jens Peter
AU - Andreou, Andreas
AU - Pascher, Andreas
AU - Bechstein, Wolf O.
AU - Struecker, Benjamin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/12
Y1 - 2024/12
N2 - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignant liver tumor and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. However, current diagnostic tools are often invasive and technically limited. In the last decade, non-invasive liquid biopsies have transformed the field of clinical oncology, showcasing the potential of various liquid-biopsy derived analytes, including extracellular vesicles (EVs), to diagnose and monitor HCC progression and metastatic spreading, serving as promising novel biomarkers. A prospective single-center cohort study including 37 HCC patients and 20 patients with non-malignant liver disease (NMLD), as a control group, was conducted. Serum EVs of both groups were analyzed before and after liver surgery. The study utilized microbead-based magnetic particle sorting and flow cytometry to detect 37 characteristic surface proteins of EVs. Furthermore, HCC patients who experienced tumor recurrence (R-HCC) within 12 months after surgery were compared to HCC patients without recurrence (NR-HCC). EVs of R-HCC patients (n = 12/20) showed significantly lower levels of CD31 compared to EVs of NR-HCC patients (p = 0.0033). EVs of NMLD-group showed significantly higher expressions of CD41b than EVs of HCC group (p = 0.0286). The study determined significant short-term changes in CD19 dynamics in EVs of the NMLD-group, with preoperative values being significantly higher than postoperative values (p = 0.0065). This finding of our pilot study suggests EVs could play a role as potential targets for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the early and non-invasive detection of HCC recurrence. Further, more in-depth analysis of the specific EV markers are needed to corroborate their potential role as diagnostic and therapeutic targets for HCC.
AB - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignant liver tumor and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. However, current diagnostic tools are often invasive and technically limited. In the last decade, non-invasive liquid biopsies have transformed the field of clinical oncology, showcasing the potential of various liquid-biopsy derived analytes, including extracellular vesicles (EVs), to diagnose and monitor HCC progression and metastatic spreading, serving as promising novel biomarkers. A prospective single-center cohort study including 37 HCC patients and 20 patients with non-malignant liver disease (NMLD), as a control group, was conducted. Serum EVs of both groups were analyzed before and after liver surgery. The study utilized microbead-based magnetic particle sorting and flow cytometry to detect 37 characteristic surface proteins of EVs. Furthermore, HCC patients who experienced tumor recurrence (R-HCC) within 12 months after surgery were compared to HCC patients without recurrence (NR-HCC). EVs of R-HCC patients (n = 12/20) showed significantly lower levels of CD31 compared to EVs of NR-HCC patients (p = 0.0033). EVs of NMLD-group showed significantly higher expressions of CD41b than EVs of HCC group (p = 0.0286). The study determined significant short-term changes in CD19 dynamics in EVs of the NMLD-group, with preoperative values being significantly higher than postoperative values (p = 0.0065). This finding of our pilot study suggests EVs could play a role as potential targets for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the early and non-invasive detection of HCC recurrence. Further, more in-depth analysis of the specific EV markers are needed to corroborate their potential role as diagnostic and therapeutic targets for HCC.
KW - Extracellular vesicles
KW - Hepatocellular carcinoma
KW - Non-malignant liver disease
KW - Recurrence
KW - Surgery
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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-024-55888-8
DO - 10.1038/s41598-024-55888-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 38438456
AN - SCOPUS:85186553969
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 14
JO - Scientific reports
JF - Scientific reports
IS - 1
M1 - 5322
ER -