CD63-GPC1-Positive Exosomes Coupled with CA19-9 Offer Good Diagnostic Potential for Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

• Published in: Translational oncology 2019-11, Vol.12 (11), p.1395-1403
• Main Authors: Buscail, Etienne, Chauvet, Alexandre, Quincy, Pascaline, Degrandi, Olivier, Buscail, Camille, Lamrissi, Isabelle, Moranvillier, Isabelle, Caumont, Charline, Verdon, Severine, Brisson, Alain, Marty, Marion, Chiche, Laurence, Laurent, Christophe, Vendrely, Veronique, Moreau-Gaudry, François, Bedel, Aurelie, Dabernat, Sandrine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cancer; Human health and pathology; Life Sciences; Original article
• ISSN: 1936-5233; 1944-7124; 1936-5233
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2019.07.009

Tumor-released extracellular vesicles (EVs) contain tumor-specific cargo distinguishing them from healthy EVs, and making them eligible as circulating biomarkers. Glypican 1 (GPC1)-positive exosome relevance as liquid biopsy elements is still debated. We carried out a prospective study to quantify GPC1-positive exosomes in sera from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients undergoing up-front surgery, as compared to controls including patients without cancer history and patients displaying pancreatic preneoplasic lesions. Sera were enriched in EVs, and exosomes were pulled down with anti-CD63 coupled magnetic beads. GPC1-positive bead percentages determined by flow cytometry were significantly higher in PDAC than in the control group. Diagnosis accuracy reached 78% (sensitivity 64% and specificity 90%), when results from peripheral and portal blood were combined. In association with echo-guided-ultrasound-fine-needle-aspiration (EUS-FNA) negative predictive value was 80% as compared to 33% for EUS-FNA only. This approach is clinically relevant as a companion test to the already available diagnostic tools, since patients with GPC1-positive exosomes in peripheral blood showed decreased tumor free survival.