Serum Autoantibodies against STIP1 as a Potential Biomarker in the Diagnosis of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

• Main Authors: Yi-Wei Xu, Can-Tong Liu, Xin-Yi Huang, Li-Sheng Huang, Yu-Hao Luo, Chao-Qun Hong, Hai-Peng Guo, Li-Yan Xu, Yu-Hui Peng, En-Min Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2017-01-01
• Series: Disease Markers
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/5384091
• ISSN: 0278-0240; 1875-8630

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality around the world. The identification of novel serum biomarkers is required for early detection of ESCC. This study was designed to elucidate whether autoantibodies against STIP1 could be a diagnostic biomarker in ESCC. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect serum levels of STIP1 autoantibodies in a training cohort (148 ESCC patients and 111 controls) and a validation cohort (60 ESCC patients and 40 controls). Mann–Whitney’s U test showed that ESCC patients in two cohorts have higher levels of autoantibodies against STIP1 when compared to controls (P<0.001). According to receiver operating characteristic analysis, the sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) of autoantibodies against STIP1 in ESCC were 41.9%, 90.1%, and 0.682 in the training cohort and 40.0%, 92.5%, and 0.710 in the validation cohort, respectively. Moreover, detection of autoantibodies against STIP1 could discriminate early-stage ESCC patients from controls, with sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of 35.7%, 90.1%, and 0.684 in the training cohort and 38.5%, 92.5%, and 0.756 in the validation cohort, respectively. Our findings indicated that autoantibodies against STIP1 might be a useful biomarker for early-stage ESCC detection.