Development of a Biomarker Profile for Ovarian Cancer Using Proseek® Multiplex Plates

Abstract

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death in women in the U.S. Currently, two serum biomarkers, CA125 and HE4, are used to monitor recurrence of ovarian cancer. However, their specificity and sensitivity are not adequate for detecting early stages of ovarian cancer in the general population. In this project, we used a multiplex approach to identify new candidate biomarkers for early stages of ovarian cancer. We used a Proseek® Multiplex Oncology plate (Olink Bioscience) to analyze the expression of 92 biomarkers in 1 µL of serum collected from 22 women in each of four groups: healthy, benign ovarian tumors, early stage ovarian cancer, and late stage ovarian cancer. Biomarker levels were analyzed by a Proximity Extension Assay and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. As expected, CA125 and HE4 showed the highest variation between healthy versus early stage ovarian cancer (AUC=0.981 and 0.844, respectively). Interestingly, 18 additional proteins were identified as potential candidate biomarkers with AUC > 0.70. To validate these results, we plan to test hundreds of serum samples on Proseek® plates. Our ultimate goal is to develop an algorithm of biomarkers that can be used to screen women for early stages of ovarian cancer, when the likelihood of long term survival is greatest.