Abstract
Background: Plasma amino acid profiles are known to change in various diseases, including cancer. “AminoIndex technology” estimates health and disease risk based on plasma amino acid profiles using multivariate analysis. “AminoIndex Technology” could be a useful, novel biomarker for the detection of several cancers. In this multicenter study, we created and evaluated a plasma amino acid index suitable for screening for different gynecologic cancers: cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer.
Methods: In this study, plasma amino acid concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in patients with cervical cancer (n=208) , endometrial cancer (n=186) and ovarian cancer (n=102) , as well as in patients with benign gynecologic diseases (n=305) and in healthy controls (n=1,631) .
Results: Plasma levels of several amino acids differed significantly between patients with gynecologic cancer and healthy controls. In contrast, plasma amino acid patterns were similar in patients with each type of gynecologic cancer. We therefore created a plasma amino acid profile-based index for the detection of all three types of gynecologic cancer. The sensitivities of the index were 52%, 58%, and 77% at a specificity of 95% for cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer, respectively. The index showed particularly high sensitivity for the early stage (stage I) of each cancer. It also showed similar sensitivities for cervical adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The sensitivity of the index was significantly higher than that of CA125 for endometrial cancer, and comparable to CA125 for ovarian cancer.
Conclusion: This novel index could be a potential biomarker for the early detection of gynecologic cancers.
