Open AccessThe CA19-9 and Sialyl-TRA Antigens Define Separate Subpopulations of Pancreatic Cancer Cells
Author(s) -
Daniel Barnett,
Ying Li,
Katie Partyka,
Ying Huang,
Huiyuan Tang,
Galen Hostetter,
Randall E. Brand,
Aatur D. Singhi,
Richard Drake,
Brian B. Haab
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-04164-z
Subject(s) - pancreatic cancer , ca19 9 , antigen , glycan , cancer cell , staining , biology , cancer , cancer research , stain , adenocarcinoma , pathology , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , immunology , glycoprotein , genetics
Molecular markers to detect subtypes of cancer cells could facilitate more effective treatment. We recently identified a carbohydrate antigen, named sTRA, that is as accurate a serological biomarker of pancreatic cancer as the cancer antigen CA19-9. We hypothesized that the cancer cells producing sTRA are a different subpopulation than those producing CA19-9. The sTRA glycan was significantly elevated in tumor tissue relative to adjacent pancreatic tissue in 3 separate tissue microarrays covering 38 patients. The morphologies of the cancer cells varied in association with glycan expression. Cells with dual staining of both markers tended to be in well-to-moderately differentiated glands with nuclear polarization, but exclusive sTRA staining was present in small clusters of cells with poor differentiation and large vacuoles, or in small and ill-defined glands. Patients with higher dual-staining of CA19-9 and sTRA had statistically longer time-to-progression after surgery. Patients with short time-to-progression (<2 years) had either low levels of the dual-stained cells or high levels of single-stained cells, and such patterns differentiated short from long time-to-progression with 90% (27/30) sensitivity and 80% (12/15) specificity. The sTRA and CA19-9 glycans define separate subpopulations of cancer cells and could together have value for classifying subtypes of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.