Stem signatures associated antibodies yield early diagnosis and precise prognosis predication of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: This study was designed to detect patients with early NSCLC with tentatively using the stem signatures associated autoantibodies (AAbs), and to evaluate its latent values in the early diagnosis and precise prognosis prediction.

Methods: The serum concentrations of selective antibodies were quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and a total of 458 cases were enrolled (training set = 401; validation set = 57). TCGA databases were used to analyze the distinct expressions and prognostic values of related genes. The optimal cut-off values were 11.60 U/ml for P53, 4.90 U/ml for MAGEA1, 3.85 U/ml for SOX2, and 7.05U/ml for PGP9.5.

Results: We found that the stem signatures associated antibodies of MAGEA1, PGP9.5, SOX2, and TP53 exhibited high expressions in NSCLC, negatively correlating with the overall survival (OS) (P < 0.05). In the test groups, the diagnosis sensitivity of P53, PGP9.5, SOX2, and MAGEA1 reached to 21.5%, 39.0%, 50.3%, and 35.0%, respectively, and the specificity reached to 98.7%, 99.4%, 92.2%, and 97.4%. The four candidates' panel gave a sensitivity of 71.8% with a specificity of 89%. In the validation group, the detection of the four antibodies in early diagnosis of NSCLC also exhibited high specificity and sensitivity, further consolidating their potential application.

Conclusions: The detection regarding stem signatures associated antibodies could be used as effective tools in early NSCLC diagnosis, but not for localized screening of cancers, and their abnormal expression was in accordance with poorer survival.