Biomarkers for prevention and early diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma

: Improved detection methods for diagnosis of asymptomatic malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) are essential for an early and reliable detection and treatment of this disease. Thus, focus has been on finding tumour markers in the blood. 94 asbestos-exposed subjects, 22 patients with MM, and 54 healthy subjects were recruited for evaluation of the significance of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxy-guanosine (80HdG) in white blood cells and plasma concentrations of soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRPs), angiogenic factors (PDGFbeta, HGF, bFGF, VEGFbeta), and matrix proteases (MMP2, MMP9, TIMP1, TIMP2) for potential early detection of MM. The area under ROC curves (AUC) indicates that 80HdG levels can discriminate asbestos-exposed subjects from controls but not from MPM patients. Significant AUC values were found for SMRP discriminating asbestos-exposed subjects from MPM patients but not from controls. VEGFbeta can significantly differentiate asbestos-exposed subjects from control and cancer groups. No diagnostic value was observed for MMP2, MMP9, TIMP1, TIMP2. The sensitivity and specificity results of markers were calculated at defined cut-offs. The combination of 80HdG, VEGFbeta and SMRPs best distinguished the individual groups, suggesting a potential indicator of early and advanced MPM cancers. The combination of blood biomarkers and radiographic findings could be used to stratify the risk of mesothelioma in asbestos-exposed populations.