High serum haptoglobin level is associated with tumor progression and predicts poor prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract

The overall survival time of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not improved dramatically in recent decades. An important reason is the lacking of valuable biomarkers. Haptoglobin was reported to have activities of anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, autoimmune and tumor angiogenesis. However its potential role as a tumor biomarker was not well recognized. We used an immunoturbidimetry method to measure serum haptoglobin levels in 205 NSCLC patients, and 210 normal healthy controls. We found that serum haptoglobin levels were significantly elevated in NSCLC patients compared with normal healthy controls (1.985±1.039 mg/mLvs. 0.922 ± 0.495 mg/mL, respectively, P < 0.0001). Higher serum haptoglobin levels were associated with advanced TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis. Area under receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) for serum haptoglobin was 0.809 (95% CI: 0.767–0.852) at a specificity of 0.881 and sensitivity of 0.639. The optimal cut-off value of haptoglobin was 1.495 mg/mL for discriminating NSCLC from normal healthy controls. Kaplan-Meier log rank analysis revealed that the higher serum haptoglobin levels group had a poorer overall survival compared with lower haptoglobin group (the median survival was 12.0 weeks, 26.0 weeks, respectively, P < 0.01). Further univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that serum haptoglobin was an independent risk factor of prognosis of NSCLC patients (P < 0.01, P = 0.01, respectively). In conclusion, our study suggests that serum haptoglobin may act as useful clinical serological biomarkers in progression and prognostic evaluation in NSCLC.

The serum activity of thioredoxin reductases 1 (TrxR1) is correlated with the poor prognosis in EGFR wild-type and ALK negative non-small cell lung cancer

“…In recent years, several serum biomarkers were found to be associated with the prognosis of NSCLC such as Cripto-1 [ 25 ], haptoglobin [ 27 ] and chemerin [ 28 ]. However, the prognostic value of those biomarkers remains to be further verified and those studies had not screened the patient’s TNM stage and driver gene status which had great influence on the patient’s treatment and survival.…”

Haptoglobin expression correlates with tumor differentiation and five-year overall survival rate in hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Additionally, Sun et al demonstrated that serum Hp is highly expressed in colorectal cancer and is correlated with poor survival rate[ 8 ]. Moreover, it has been shown that the increased serum levels of Hp in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with advanced TNM stages and distant metastasis[ 9 ]. These findings suggest the potential role of Hp in cancer prognosis and biomarker, which is worth and clinically urgent for further investigations.…”

Saliva proteomic analysis reveals possible biomarkers of renal cell carcinoma

“…Haptoglobin is involved in cell migration and extracellular matrix degradation, which may contribute to cancer angiogenesis or metastasis [29]. In addition, clinicopathological variables, TNM state and poor overall survival in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients have been associated with the levels of haptoglobin [30]. Recent research has further shown increased significance of codetection of haptoglobin and CYFRA21-1 for the diagnosis of lung squamous carcinoma [31].…”