Antibody-based targeting of alternatively spliced tissue factor: a new approach to impede the primary growth and spread of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Alternatively spliced Tissue Factor (asTF) is a secreted form of Tissue Factor (TF), the trigger of blood coagulation whose expression levels are heightened in several forms of solid cancer, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). asTF binds to β1 integrins on PDAC cells, whereby it promotes tumor growth, metastatic spread, and monocyte recruitment to the stroma. In this study, we determined if targeting asTF in PDAC would significantly impact tumor progression.

Levels of Alternatively Spliced Tissue Factor in the Plasma of Patients with Pancreatic Cancer May Help Predict Aggressive Tumor Phenotype.

Background: Circulating ('blood-borne') tissue factor (TF) is implicated in the pathogenesis of several chronic conditions, most notably cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Full-length TF is an integral membrane protein, while alternatively spliced TF (asTF) can be secreted and, owing to its unique C-terminus, selectively detected in bio-specimens. The predictive and/or prognostic value of asTF in the circulation is unknown.

Clinical evaluation of a new functional test for detection of plasma procoagulant phospholipids.

The objective of this study was to validate a simple factor Xa-based clotting test developed to monitor procoagulant phospholipids (PPLs) and platelet-derived microparticles (PMPs). This assay is easily automated, giving it a major advantage over the more laborious and expensive flow cytometry, electron microscopy and ELISA techniques in general usage at present. The intra-assay and inter-assay variation coefficients were less than 5% at both low and high levels of PPLs.