Background
A team from Lund University used the Olink® Target 96 Cardiometabolic panel to identify novel protein biomarkers in the exhaled breath particles (EBPs) of patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). EBPs are naturally shed from the respiratory system during normal breathing and can be collected easily using a particles in exhaled air device (PExA). This study examined whether the protein composition of EBPs could provide a means for non-invasive measurement of potential biomarkers linked to the diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer.
Outcome
EBP samples were collected from LUAD patients before and after surgery aimed at removing the primary tumor and results compared to healthy controls. The data showed that five proteins (CFHR5, MFAP5, PLTP, HGF-R/MET, CA4) were significantly higher in cases vs controls. All of these proteins have established biological links to cancer-related processes. The longitudinal analysis further revealed that PLTP and MET showed a distinct decreasing trend following surgery, losing significance compared to control subjects and possibly indicating tumor removal.
The differences in PLTP and MET at the protein level could also seen at the RNA level in cancer vs control lung tissue samples. Finally, the association of MET with LUAD was also verified in patient plasma using an ELISA (this could not be verified in EBP samples due to the lower sensitivity of the ELISA compared to the Olink assay). While preliminary, these data suggest the possibility of a promising new approach for the diagnosis and post-surgical monitoring of lung cancer.
