Classifying patients for breast cancer by detection of autoantibodies against a panel of conformation-carrying antigens

Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2014 May;7(5):545-55. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-13-0416. Epub 2014 Mar 18.

Abstract

Patients with breast cancer elicit an autoantibody response against cancer proteins, which reflects and amplifies the cellular changes associated with tumorigenesis. Detection of autoantibodies in plasma may provide a minimally invasive mechanism for early detection of breast cancer. To identify cancer proteins that elicit a humoral response, we generated a cDNA library enriched for breast cancer genes that encode membrane and secreted proteins, which are more likely to induce an antibody response compared with intracellular proteins. To generate conformation-carrying antigens that are efficiently recognized by patients' antibodies, a eukaryotic expression strategy was established. Plasma from 200 patients with breast cancer and 200 age-matched healthy controls were measured for autoantibody activity against 20 different antigens designed to have conformational epitopes using ELISA. A conditional logistic regression model was used to select a combination of autoantibody responses against the 20 different antigens to classify patients with breast cancer from healthy controls. The best combination included ANGPTL4, DKK1, GAL1, MUC1, GFRA1, GRN, and LRRC15; however, autoantibody responses against GFRA1, GRN, and LRRC15 were inversely correlated with breast cancer. When the autoantibody responses against the 7 antigens were added to the base model, including age, BMI, race and current smoking status, the assay had the following diagnostic capabilities: c-stat (95% CI), 0.82 (0.78-0.86); sensitivity, 73%; specificity, 76%; and positive likelihood ratio (95% CI), 3.04 (2.34-3.94). The model was calibrated across risk deciles (Hosmer-Lemeshow, P = 0.13) and performed well in specific subtypes of breast cancer including estrogen receptor positive, HER-2 positive, invasive, in situ and tumor sizes >1 cm.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma in Situ / blood
  • Adenocarcinoma in Situ / classification
  • Adenocarcinoma in Situ / diagnosis
  • Adenocarcinoma in Situ / pathology
  • Aged
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / blood*
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / chemistry*
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / immunology
  • Autoantibodies / blood*
  • Autoantibodies / immunology
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / blood
  • Breast Neoplasms / blood
  • Breast Neoplasms / classification
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / blood
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / classification
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / diagnosis
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / pathology
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cell Line
  • Early Detection of Cancer / methods*
  • Epitopes / blood
  • Epitopes / immunology
  • Female
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Protein Conformation
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / chemistry
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / immunology
  • Triage / methods*

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Autoantibodies
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Epitopes
  • Receptor, ErbB-2