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FOXP3 autoantibody as a potential early prognostic serum biomarker in patients with cervical cancer

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International Journal of Clinical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Overexpression of tumor-associated antigens has been reported in many types of cancer and may trigger secretion of their autoantibodies. The present work was designed to test whether circulating antibody to FOXP3 protein-derived antigens was altered in early cervical cancer and cervical benign tumors.

Methods

A total of 141 patients with cervical cancer, 133 patients with cervical benign tumors and 148 healthy age-matched volunteers were recruited. The level of circulating anti-FOXP3 IgG antibody was tested using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay developed in-house with linear peptide antigens derived from FOXP3 protein. The linear peptide antigens were designed according to the computational prediction of HLA-II epitopes.

Results

Student’s t test showed that anti-FOXP3 IgG in the malignant tumor group and the benign tumor group was significantly higher than in the control group (t = 6.127, p < 0.001; t = 2.704, p = 0.007). In addition, patients with stage I cervical cancer (t = 2.968, p = 0.003) had a significantly higher level of FOXP3 autoantibodies than patients with benign tumors. The sensitivity against >90 % specificity was 20.6 % with an interassay deviation of 11.7 % in the cervical cancer group. Based on a cut-off value determined by the 98th percentile of the control group IgG levels, the anti-FOXP3 IgG positivity was 2.1 % in patients with cervical cancer compared to 2.0 % in the health controls (chi-squared = 0.004, p = 0.952, OR = 1.051, 95 % CI 0.209–5.295).

Conclusion

The circulating autoantibody to FOXP3 reflecting the continuous development of the cervical lesion, may be a potential biomarker with early prognostic values for cervical cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Jilin Pharmaceutical Industry Development Special Fund Project (No. 130701YY01066802). We would like to acknowledge Dr. Cui Manhua and colleagues for their help and support with serum sample processing.

Conflict of interest

All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiotherapy, Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130041, China

    Shuang Xu, Mingmei Huangfu, Xueli Jia & Linlin Liu

  2. Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Radiobiology, Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, China

    Xiaowei Song & Shilong Sun

  3. Department of Radiotherapy, Tumor Hospital of Jilin Province, Changchun, 130012, China

    Baosheng Sun

  4. Pei-Ling Guan-Si Hospital, Hsin-Fu Kuansi Township, Hsinchu County, 30647, Taiwan

    Kuang-Hui Lee

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  1. Shuang Xu
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  2. Mingmei Huangfu
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Correspondence to Linlin Liu or Shilong Sun.

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Xu, S., Huangfu, M., Jia, X. et al. FOXP3 autoantibody as a potential early prognostic serum biomarker in patients with cervical cancer . Int J Clin Oncol 20, 982–988 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-015-0797-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-015-0797-4

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