Molecular epidemiology approach : nested case-control studies in glioma and lymphoid malignancies

BACKGROUND: Nested case-control studies aim to link molecular markers with a certain outcome. Repeated prediagnostic samples may improve the evaluation of marker-disease associations. However, data regarding the benefit of repeated samples in such studies are sparse. We aimed to assess the relationship between blood levels of various proteins and risk of glioma, B cell lymphoma, and multiple myeloma to gain further understanding of disease etiology and to evaluate the clinical relevance of the studied markers. To this end, marker-disease associations were evaluated considering the natural history of the studied disease and the time between blood sample collection and diagnosis using both single (I-II) and repeated prediagnostic blood samples (III-IV). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted four nested case-control studies and one meta-analysis using samples from three prospective cohorts: the Janus Serum Bank, the Northern Sweden Health and Disease study, and the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. The following studied endpoints and relationships were included: I) glioma risk and the association with the receptor tyrosine kinases (soluble) sEGFR and sERBB2; II) B cell lymphoma risk and the association with the immune markers sCD27 and sCD30; III) B cell lymphoma risk and the association with immune markers (CXCL13, sTNF-R1, sCD23, sCD27, and sCD30) and their trends over time; and IV) multiple myeloma risk and the association  with ten immune markers and growth factors (MCP-3, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, VEGF, FGF-2, fractalkine, TGF-α, IL-13, TNF-α, and IL-10) and their trends over time. RESULTS: Risk of developing I) glioma was weakly associated with high blood levels of sERBB2. In addition, high levels of both sEGFR and sERBB2 assessed 15 years before diagnosis were associated with glioblastoma risk. Risk of II) B cell lymphoma was associated with high levels of sCD30, whereas high levels of sCD27 were particularly associated with risk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Meta-analyses showed consistent results for sCD30 across cohorts and lymphoma subtypes, whereas results for sCD27 were less consistent across cohorts and subtypes. In addition, III) B cell lymphoma risk was associated with levels of CXCL13, sCD23, sCD27, and sCD30 assessed in samples collected 17 years before diagnosis. Marker levels increased in cases closer to diagnosis, particularly for indolent lymphoma with a marked association for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and sCD23. Increasing marker levels closer to diagnosis were also observed for CXCL13 in future diffuse large B cell lymphoma patients. Risk of IV) multiple myeloma was associated with low levels of MCP-3, VEGF, FGF-2, fractalkine, and TGF-α. Levels of these markers decreased in myeloma cases over time, especially for TGF-α. TGF-α assessed at time of the prediagnostic repeated sample seemed to help predict progression to multiple myeloma. CONCLUSIONS: Both the natural history of the studied disease and the time between sample collection and diagnosis are crucial for the evaluation of marker-disease associations. Using repeated blood samples improves the understanding of marker-disease associations and might help to identify useful biomarker candidates

Molecular epidemiology approach : nested case-control studies in glioma and lymphoid malignancies

BACKGROUND: Nested case-control studies aim to link molecular markers with a certain outcome. Repeated prediagnostic samples may improve the evaluation of marker-disease associations. However, data regarding the benefit of repeated samples in such studies are sparse. We aimed to assess the relationship between blood levels of various proteins and risk of glioma, B cell lymphoma, and multiple myeloma to gain further understanding of disease etiology and to evaluate the clinical relevance of the studied markers. To this end, marker-disease associations were evaluated considering the natural history of the studied disease and the time between blood sample collection and diagnosis using both single (I-II) and repeated prediagnostic blood samples (III-IV). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted four nested case-control studies and one meta-analysis using samples from three prospective cohorts: the Janus Serum Bank, the Northern Sweden Health and Disease study, and the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. The following studied endpoints and relationships were included: I) glioma risk and the association with the receptor tyrosine kinases (soluble) sEGFR and sERBB2; II) B cell lymphoma risk and the association with the immune markers sCD27 and sCD30; III) B cell lymphoma risk and the association with immune markers (CXCL13, sTNF-R1, sCD23, sCD27, and sCD30) and their trends over time; and IV) multiple myeloma risk and the association  with ten immune markers and growth factors (MCP-3, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, VEGF, FGF-2, fractalkine, TGF-α, IL-13, TNF-α, and IL-10) and their trends over time. RESULTS: Risk of developing I) glioma was weakly associated with high blood levels of sERBB2. In addition, high levels of both sEGFR and sERBB2 assessed 15 years before diagnosis were associated with glioblastoma risk. Risk of II) B cell lymphoma was associated with high levels of sCD30, whereas high levels of sCD27 were particularly associated with risk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Meta-analyses showed consistent results for sCD30 across cohorts and lymphoma subtypes, whereas results for sCD27 were less consistent across cohorts and subtypes. In addition, III) B cell lymphoma risk was associated with levels of CXCL13, sCD23, sCD27, and sCD30 assessed in samples collected 17 years before diagnosis. Marker levels increased in cases closer to diagnosis, particularly for indolent lymphoma with a marked association for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and sCD23. Increasing marker levels closer to diagnosis were also observed for CXCL13 in future diffuse large B cell lymphoma patients. Risk of IV) multiple myeloma was associated with low levels of MCP-3, VEGF, FGF-2, fractalkine, and TGF-α. Levels of these markers decreased in myeloma cases over time, especially for TGF-α. TGF-α assessed at time of the prediagnostic repeated sample seemed to help predict progression to multiple myeloma. CONCLUSIONS: Both the natural history of the studied disease and the time between sample collection and diagnosis are crucial for the evaluation of marker-disease associations. Using repeated blood samples improves the understanding of marker-disease associations and might help to identify useful biomarker candidates

Molecular epidemiology approach : nested case-control studies in glioma and lymphoid malignancies

BACKGROUND: Nested case-control studies aim to link molecular markers with a certain outcome. Repeated prediagnostic samples may improve the evaluation of marker-disease associations. However, data regarding the benefit of repeated samples in such studies are sparse. We aimed to assess the relationship between blood levels of various proteins and risk of glioma, B cell lymphoma, and multiple myeloma to gain further understanding of disease etiology and to evaluate the clinical relevance of the studied markers. To this end, marker-disease associations were evaluated considering the natural history of the studied disease and the time between blood sample collection and diagnosis using both single (I-II) and repeated prediagnostic blood samples (III-IV). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted four nested case-control studies and one meta-analysis using samples from three prospective cohorts: the Janus Serum Bank, the Northern Sweden Health and Disease study, and the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. The following studied endpoints and relationships were included: I) glioma risk and the association with the receptor tyrosine kinases (soluble) sEGFR and sERBB2; II) B cell lymphoma risk and the association with the immune markers sCD27 and sCD30; III) B cell lymphoma risk and the association with immune markers (CXCL13, sTNF-R1, sCD23, sCD27, and sCD30) and their trends over time; and IV) multiple myeloma risk and the association  with ten immune markers and growth factors (MCP-3, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, VEGF, FGF-2, fractalkine, TGF-α, IL-13, TNF-α, and IL-10) and their trends over time. RESULTS: Risk of developing I) glioma was weakly associated with high blood levels of sERBB2. In addition, high levels of both sEGFR and sERBB2 assessed 15 years before diagnosis were associated with glioblastoma risk. Risk of II) B cell lymphoma was associated with high levels of sCD30, whereas high levels of sCD27 were particularly associated with risk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Meta-analyses showed consistent results for sCD30 across cohorts and lymphoma subtypes, whereas results for sCD27 were less consistent across cohorts and subtypes. In addition, III) B cell lymphoma risk was associated with levels of CXCL13, sCD23, sCD27, and sCD30 assessed in samples collected 17 years before diagnosis. Marker levels increased in cases closer to diagnosis, particularly for indolent lymphoma with a marked association for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and sCD23. Increasing marker levels closer to diagnosis were also observed for CXCL13 in future diffuse large B cell lymphoma patients. Risk of IV) multiple myeloma was associated with low levels of MCP-3, VEGF, FGF-2, fractalkine, and TGF-α. Levels of these markers decreased in myeloma cases over time, especially for TGF-α. TGF-α assessed at time of the prediagnostic repeated sample seemed to help predict progression to multiple myeloma. CONCLUSIONS: Both the natural history of the studied disease and the time between sample collection and diagnosis are crucial for the evaluation of marker-disease associations. Using repeated blood samples improves the understanding of marker-disease associations and might help to identify useful biomarker candidates

Identification of Pre-Diagnostic Metabolic Patterns for Glioma Using Subset Analysis of Matched Repeated Time Points

Simple Summary: Reprogramming of cellular metabolism is a major hallmark of cancer cells, and play an important role in tumor initiation and progression. The aim of our study is to discover circulating early metabolic markers of brain tumors, as discovery and development of reliable predictive molecular markers are needed for precision oncology applications. We use a study design tailored to minimize confounding factors and a novel machine learning and visualization approach (SMART) to identify a panel of 15 interlinked metabolites related to glioma development. The presented SMART strategy facilitates early molecular marker discovery and can be used for many types of molecular data. Abstract: Here, we present a strategy for early molecular marker pattern detection-Subset analysis of Matched Repeated Time points (SMART)-used in a mass-spectrometry-based metabolomics study of repeated blood samples from future glioma patients and their matched controls. The outcome from SMART is a predictive time span when disease-related changes are detectable, defined by time to diagnosis and time between longitudinal sampling, and visualization of molecular marker patterns related to future disease. For glioma, we detect significant changes in metabolite levels as early as eight years before diagnosis, with longitudinal follow up within seven years. Elevated blood plasma levels of myo-inositol, cysteine, N-acetylglucosamine, creatinine, glycine, proline, erythronic-, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic-, uric-, and aceturic acid were particularly evident in glioma cases. We use data simulation to ensure non-random events and a separate data set for biomarker validation. The latent biomarker, consisting of 15 interlinked and significantly altered metabolites, shows a strong correlation to oxidative metabolism, glutathione biosynthesis and monosaccharide metabolism, linked to known early events in tumor development. This study highlights the benefits of progression pattern analysis and provide a tool for the discovery of early markers of disease

Progression patterns in monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and multiple myeloma outcome : a cohort study in 42 patients

Follow-up of low-risk monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is debated as multiple myeloma (MM) progression risk is low. Worse MM outcome was reported for patients followed for low-risk MGUS, possibly due to less optimal follow-up. However, it is unknown whether progressing low-risk MGUS is associated with aggressive tumor behavior. Understanding these patterns is crucial for MGUS management. Here, we investigated whether progression from low-risk MGUS is associated with worse MM outcome in patients who had no MGUS follow-up before myeloma diagnosis. We retrospectively determined the MGUS status in repeated pre-diagnostic blood samples prospectively collected from 42 myeloma patients in median 11.6 years (first sample) and 3.3 years (repeated sample) before myeloma diagnosis. At first pre-diagnostic blood draw, 12 had low-risk (defined by an immunoglobulin [Ig] G monoclonal [M] spike < 15 g/L and a normal free light-chain ratio) and 30 had MGUS of other risk. MM bone disease was more common in patients with low-risk MGUS at first blood draw (67% vs. 30%, P = 0.041). Median survival since myeloma diagnosis was worse in low-risk than other MGUS at first blood draw (2.3 vs. 7.5 years, P = 0.004). Modest progression was observed between first and repeated blood draw for the majority of low-risk MGUS as 67% remained as low- or low-intermediate-risk MGUS at repeated blood draw. Our study, albeit limited by its small size, indicates that progression from low-risk MGUS is associated with worse MM outcome regardless of MGUS follow-up. Although further investigation is needed, progressing low-risk MGUS could belong to a group of aggressive tumors with progression that is difficult to predict

Pre-diagnostic levels of sVEGFR2, sTNFR2, sIL-2Rα and sIL-6R are associated with glioma risk : A nested case–control study of repeated samples

No strong aetiological factors have been established for glioma aside from genetic mutations and variants, ionising radiation and an inverse relationship with asthmas and allergies. Our aim was to investigate the association between pre-diagnostic immune protein levels and glioma risk. We conducted a case–control study nested in the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study cohort. We analysed 133 glioma cases and 133 control subjects matched by age, sex and date of blood donation. ELISA or Luminex bead-based multiplex assays were used to measure plasma levels of 19 proteins. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios and 95% CIs. To further model the protein trajectories over time, the linear mixed-effects models were conducted. We found that the levels of sVEGFR2, sTNFR2, sIL-2Rα and sIL-6R were associated with glioma risk. After adjusting for the time between blood sample collection and glioma diagnosis, the odds ratios were 1.72 (95% CI = 1.01–2.93), 1.48 (95% CI = 1.01–2.16) and 1.90 (95% CI = 1.14–3.17) for sTNFR2, sIL-2Rα and sIL-6R, respectively. The trajectory of sVEGFR2 concentrations over time was different between cases and controls (p-value = 0.031), increasing for cases (0.8% per year) and constant for controls. Our findings suggest these proteins play important roles in gliomagenesis

Intraindividual Long-term Immune Marker Stability in Plasma Samples Collected in Median 9.4 Years Apart in 304 Adult Cancer-free Individuals

Background: Changes in immune marker levels in the blood could be used to improve the early detection of tumor-associated inflammatory processes. To increase predictiveness and utility in cancer detection, intraindividual long-term stability in cancer-free individuals is critical for biomarker candidates as to facilitate the detection of deviation from the norm. Methods: We assessed intraindividual long-term stability for 19 immune markers (IL10, IL13, TNFa, CXCL13, MCP-3, MIP-1a, MIP-1b, fractalkine, VEGF, FGF-2, TGFa, sIL2Ra, sIL6R, sVEGF-R2, sTNF-R1, sTNF-R2, sCD23, sCD27, and sCD30) in 304 cancer-free individuals. Repeated blood samples were collected up to 20 years apart. Intraindividual reproducibility was assessed by calculating intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) using a linear mixed model. Results: ICCs indicated fair to good reproducibility (ICCs ≥ 0.40 and < 0.75) for 17 of 19 investigated immune markers, including IL10, IL13, TNFa, CXCL13, MCP-3, MIP-1a, MIP-1b, fractalkine, VEGF, FGF-2, TGFa, sIL2Ra, sIL6R, sTNF-R1, sTNF-R2, sCD27, and sCD30. Reproducibility was strong (ICC ≥ 0.75) for sCD23, while reproducibility was poor (ICC < 0.40) for sVEGF-R2. Using a more stringent criterion for reproducibility (ICC ≥ 0.55), we observed either acceptable or better reproducibility for IL10, IL13, CXCL13, MCP-3, MIP-1a, MIP-1b, VEGF, FGF-2, sTNF-R1, sCD23, sCD27, and sCD30. Conclusions: IL10, IL13, CXCL13, MCP-3, MIP-1a, MIP-1b, VEGF, FGF-2, sTNF-R1, sCD23, sCD27, and sCD30 displayed ICCs consistent with intraindividual long-term stability in cancer-free individuals. Impact: Our data support using these markers in prospective longitudinal studies seeking early cancer detection biomarkers

Immune marker changes and risk of multiple myeloma : a nested case-control study using repeated prediagnostic blood samples

Biomarkers reliably predicting progression to multiple myeloma (MM) are lacking. Myeloma risk has been associated with low blood levels of monocyte chemotactic protein-3 (MCP-3), macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), fractalkine, and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha). In this study, we aimed to replicate these findings and study the individual dynamics of each marker in a prospective longitudinal cohort, thereby examining their potential as markers of myeloma progression. For this purpose, we identified 65 myeloma cases and 65 matched cancer-free controls each with two donated blood samples within the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study. The first and repeated samples from myeloma cases were donated at a median 13 and 4 years, respectively, before the myeloma was diagnosed. Known risk factors for progression were determined by protein-, and immunofixation electrophoresis, and free light chain assays. We observed lower levels of MCP-3, VEGF, FGF-2, and TGF-alpha in myeloma patients than in controls, consistent with previous data. We also observed that these markers decreased among future myeloma patients while remaining stable in controls. Decreasing trajectories were noted for TGF-alpha (P=2.5 x 10(-4)) indicating progression to MM. Investigating this, we found that low levels of TGF-alpha assessed at the time of the repeated sample were independently associated with risk of progression in a multivariable model (hazard ratio = 3.5; P=0.003). TGF-alpha can potentially improve early detection of MM.Originally included in thesis in manuscript form</p

Immune marker changes and risk of multiple myeloma: a nested case-control study using repeated prediagnostic blood samples

Biomarkers reliably predicting progression to multiple myeloma are lacking. Myeloma risk has been associated with low blood levels of monocyte chemotactic protein 3, macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha, vascular endothelial growth factor, fibroblast growth factor 2, fractalkine, and transforming growth factor alpha. In this study, we aimed to replicate these findings and study the individual dynamics of each marker in a prospective longitudinal cohort, thereby examining their potential as markers of myeloma progression. For this purpose, we identified 65 myeloma cases and 65 matched cancer-free controls each with two donated blood samples within the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study. Samples from myeloma cases were donated in median 13 and 4 years before myeloma diagnosis. Known risk factors of progression were determined by protein-, and immunofixation electrophoresis, and free light chain assays. We observed lower levels of monocyte chemotactic protein 3, vascular endothelial growth factor, fibroblast growth factor 2, fractalkine, and transforming growth factor alpha in myeloma patients than controls, consistent with previous data. We also observed that these markers decreased among future myeloma patients while remaining stable in controls. Decreasing trajectories were marked for transforming growth factor alpha (P = 2.5 x 10-4) indicating progression to multiple myeloma. Investigating this, we found that low levels of transforming growth factor alpha assessed at time of the repeated sample were independently associated with risk of progression in a multivariable model (hazard ratio = 3.5; P = 0.003). Transforming growth factor alpha can potentially improve early detection of multiple myeloma.