A novel serum protein biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Abstract Background Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor prevalent in Southern China, strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Accurate diagnosis is critical in determining treatment strategies for NPC. In clinical practice, imaging techniques are the most predomin...
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BMC
2025-04-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-13958-8 |
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| author | Yi-Xi Pan Qi Huang Shan Xing Qian-Ying Zhu |
| author_facet | Yi-Xi Pan Qi Huang Shan Xing Qian-Ying Zhu |
| author_sort | Yi-Xi Pan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor prevalent in Southern China, strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Accurate diagnosis is critical in determining treatment strategies for NPC. In clinical practice, imaging techniques are the most predominant diagnostic methods, which are costly and may fail to detect small metastatic lesions. Moreover, while EBV antibody and DNA tests contribute to the assessment of tumor progression, they carry the risk of false negatives. Methods To develop novel serum protein biomarkers for late-stage NPC diagnosis, our study included 189 samples, including healthy controls (HCs) and early- or late-stage NPC patients. A high-throughput serum proteomics approach was employed to delineate protein profiles, followed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) validation of candidate biomarkers. Results Our study identified fibronectin 1 (FN1) as a promising serum biomarker for late-stage NPC. The serum levels of FN1 significantly decreased with tumor progression, achieving AUCs of 0.71 and 0.72 in differentiating late-stage NPC patients from HCs and early-stage NPC patients, respectively. Importantly, FN1 demonstrated diagnostic utility in challenging cases, accurately identifying all VCA-IgA-negative and 88.2% EBV DNA-negative patients with late-stage NPC. Combining FN1 with VCA-IgA or EBV DNA test significantly increased diagnostic sensitivity for advanced NPC. Conclusions Our discovery of FN1 as a biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of NPC will assist in clinical treatment decisions and improve the prognosis of patients. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9e53783c48ee4feab78d3f4758a95f21 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1471-2407 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Cancer |
| spelling | doaj-art-9e53783c48ee4feab78d3f4758a95f212025-08-20T03:04:51ZengBMCBMC Cancer1471-24072025-04-0125111410.1186/s12885-025-13958-8A novel serum protein biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinomaYi-Xi Pan0Qi Huang1Shan Xing2Qian-Ying Zhu3Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer CenterDepartment of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer CenterDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen UniversityAbstract Background Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor prevalent in Southern China, strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Accurate diagnosis is critical in determining treatment strategies for NPC. In clinical practice, imaging techniques are the most predominant diagnostic methods, which are costly and may fail to detect small metastatic lesions. Moreover, while EBV antibody and DNA tests contribute to the assessment of tumor progression, they carry the risk of false negatives. Methods To develop novel serum protein biomarkers for late-stage NPC diagnosis, our study included 189 samples, including healthy controls (HCs) and early- or late-stage NPC patients. A high-throughput serum proteomics approach was employed to delineate protein profiles, followed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) validation of candidate biomarkers. Results Our study identified fibronectin 1 (FN1) as a promising serum biomarker for late-stage NPC. The serum levels of FN1 significantly decreased with tumor progression, achieving AUCs of 0.71 and 0.72 in differentiating late-stage NPC patients from HCs and early-stage NPC patients, respectively. Importantly, FN1 demonstrated diagnostic utility in challenging cases, accurately identifying all VCA-IgA-negative and 88.2% EBV DNA-negative patients with late-stage NPC. Combining FN1 with VCA-IgA or EBV DNA test significantly increased diagnostic sensitivity for advanced NPC. Conclusions Our discovery of FN1 as a biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of NPC will assist in clinical treatment decisions and improve the prognosis of patients.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-13958-8Nasopharyngeal carcinomaFibronectin 1BiomarkerDiagnosis |
| spellingShingle | Yi-Xi Pan Qi Huang Shan Xing Qian-Ying Zhu A novel serum protein biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma BMC Cancer Nasopharyngeal carcinoma Fibronectin 1 Biomarker Diagnosis |
| title | A novel serum protein biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma |
| title_full | A novel serum protein biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma |
| title_fullStr | A novel serum protein biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma |
| title_full_unstemmed | A novel serum protein biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma |
| title_short | A novel serum protein biomarker for the late-stage diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma |
| title_sort | novel serum protein biomarker for the late stage diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma |
| topic | Nasopharyngeal carcinoma Fibronectin 1 Biomarker Diagnosis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-13958-8 |
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