Plasma hPG80 (circulating progastrin) as a novel biomarker for detecting gastric cancer: a Japanese multicenter study

Abstract

Purpose: Early detection and treatment of cancer are important for prolonging life expectancy. hPG80 (circulating progastrin) is an 80-amino acid protein that could prove useful for detecting and following up cancer patients. However, no studies have clarified hPG80 levels in Japanese populations. Patients and Methods: From 2018 to 2022, we prospectively measured hPG80 levels in 40 cancer patients and 18 healthy volunteers. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the optimal cut-off for hPG80. According to this cut-off, we divided participants into a high-hPG80 group (n=30) and a low-hPG80 group (n=10) and compared clinical characteristics between groups. Results: Levels of hPG80 were higher in cancer patients (5.9 pM) than in healthy volunteers (2.3 pM; p=0.036), especially for gastric cancer (7.2 pM). We identified an optimal cut-off for hPG80 at 3.42 pM. At this cut-off, the sensitivity was 93.3% and specificity 83.3% for gastric cancer. The proportion of gastric cancer patients (46.7% vs. 10.0%; p=0.040) was higher in the high-hPG80 group. Among gastric cancer patients, 7 of 8 patients (87.5%) with early-stage cancer showed high hPG80 levels. Conclusion: Plasma hPG80 levels appear useful for early detection of cancer patients, especially gastric cancer.