Posters
The DEK Oncogene Can Be Detected in the Plasma of Head and Neck Cancer Patients and May Be Correlated With Tumor Immune Response and Prognosis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2015.12.267Get rights and content

Section snippets

Purpose/Objective(s)

Head and neck cancer remains the sixth most common cancer worldwide. Although infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) has emerged as a favorable prognostic factor, no plasma biomarkers currently exist to predict tumor response and/or relapse. One candidate plasma biomarker is encoded by the human DEK gene. DEK is an apoptosis and differentiation inhibitor and overexpression results in oncogenesis. DEK knockdown results in decreased growth and apoptosis of cancer cells. DEK mRNA and protein

Materials/Methods

Peripheral blood was collected from patients with newly diagnosed or untreated HNSCC and age-matched normal healthy controls. Plasma was separated from the samples and subjected to DEK-specific ELISA (Cusabio, Wuhan, China). Plasma DEK levels were compared to normal controls, tumor stage, age, and smoking status. Plasma DEK levels were also compared to inflammatory markers in the plasma and tissue.

Results

DEK was indeed found to be present in the plasma of both healthy control subjects and those with head and neck cancer. DEK was decreased in head and neck cancer patients compared to healthy patients and inversely correlated with IL-6 in the plasma. Immune infiltration (defined by presence of CD8+ T cells) of the tumor also appeared to be correlated with high DEK plasma levels.

Conclusion

Interestingly, although DEK expression is increased in head and neck cancer tissue, plasma DEK levels are decreased in patients with cancer compared to controls and are further decreased with advancing stage. DEK plasma levels are inversely correlated with IL-6 levels, suggesting that high plasma DEK levels may be correlated with a better prognosis. Furthermore, high DEK levels in the plasma may predict superior immune infiltration of tumors. Further analyses are ongoing to determine whether

References (0)

Cited by (0)

Author Disclosure: T. Wise-Draper: Research Grant; MERCK. N. hashemi Sadraei: Research Grant; MERCK. Advisory Board; Gennentech. A. Sendilnathan: None. N. Pease: None. J. Qualtieri: None. R. Butler: None. K. Casper: None. M.L. Mierzwa: None. J.C. Morris: None. Y. Patil: None. K. Wilson: None. J. Mark: None. L. Privette Vinnedge: None.

View full text