Multiple Salivary Biomarkers for Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death. Lack of early detection technology for pancreatic cancer invariably leads to a typical clinical presentation of incurable disease at initial diagnosis. Oral fluid (saliva) meets the demand for non-invasive, accessible, and highly efficient diagnostic medium. The level of salivary analytes, such as mRNA and microflora, vary upon disease onset; thus possess valuable signatures for early detection and screening. In this study, we evaluated the performance and translational utilities of the salivary transcriptomic and microbial biomarkers for non-invasive detection of early pancreatic cancer. Two biomarker discovery technologies were used to profile transcriptome in saliva supernatant and microflora in saliva pellet. The Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 Array was used to discover altered gene expression in saliva supernatant. The Human Oral Microbe Identification Microarray (HOMIM) was used to investigate microflora shift in saliva pellet. Biomarkers selected from both studies were subjected to an independent clinical validation using a cohort of 30 early pancreatic cancer, 30 chronic pancreatitis and 30 healthy matched-control saliva samples. Two panels of salivary biomarkers, including eleven mRNA biomarkers and two microbial biomarkers were discovered and validated for pancreatic cancer detection. The logistic regression model with the combination of three mRNA biomarkers (ACRV1, DMXL2 and DPM1) yielded a ROC-plot AUC value of 0.974 (95% CI, 0.896 to 0.997; P < 0.0001) with 93.3% sensitivity and 90% specificity in distinguishing pancreatic cancer patients from healthy subjects. The logistic regression model with the combination of two bacterial biomarkers (Neisseria elongata and Streptococcus mitis) yielded a ROC-plot AUC value of 0.895 (95% CI, 0.784 to 0.961; P < 0.0001) with 96.4% sensitivity and 82.1% specificity in distinguishing pancreatic cancer patients from healthy subjects. Importantly, the logistic regression model with the combination of four biomarkers (mRNA biomarkers, ACRV1, DMXL2 and DPM1; bacterial biomarker, S. mitis) could differentiate pancreatic cancer patients from all non-cancer subjects (chronic pancreatitis and healthy control), yielding a ROC-plot AUC value of 0.949 (95% CI, 0.877 to 0.985; P < 0.0001) with 92.9% sensitivity and 85.5% specificity. This study comprehensively compared the salivary transcriptome and microflora between pancreatic cancer and control subjects. We have discovered and validated eleven mRNA biomarkers and two microbial biomarkers for early detection of pancreatic cancer in saliva. The logistic regression model with four salivary biomarkers can detect pancreatic cancer specifically without the complication of chronic pancreatitis. This is the first report demonstrating the value of multiplex salivary biomarkers for the non-invasive detection of a high impact systemic cancer.

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Zhang L, Farrell JJ, Zhou H, Elashoff D, Akin D, Park NH, Chia D, Wong DT