Protein Biomarkers for Tumor Differentiation: Insights from Olink Explore HT

Keynote Presentation: Precision Diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer – Identification of Protein Biomarkers that Separate Benign from Malignant Tumors
Ulf Gyllensten, Senior Professor at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University
 

Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality among gynecological cancers, with surgery often used for final diagnosis. Accurate molecular tests are needed when imaging techniques are inconclusive. We analyzed 5416 plasma proteins in two cohorts of women with benign or malignant ovarian tumors. In the discovery cohort, we compared protein levels of benign tumors with early (I-II), late (III-IV), or any stage (I-IV) ovarian cancer. We identified 327 associations involving 191 unique proteins, with 326 (99.7%) replicating in the second cohort. Only 11% (21/191) of these proteins showed significant correlation with tumor gene expression levels. Protein-protein correlation networks revealed that 62 proteins were highly correlated with at least one other protein, indicating many associations are secondary effects. Multivariate models trained on the discovery cohort, using a fixed cut-off for malignancy, achieved an AUC of 0.96 in the replication cohort, with 97% sensitivity at 68% specificity. For early-stage tumors, sensitivity was 91% at 68% specificity, compared to 85% and 54% for CA-125 alone. Our findings suggest that plasma protein levels do not necessarily correlate with tumor gene expression, and an 8-protein panel could significantly reduce the need for diagnostic surgery in suspected ovarian cancer cases.

 

Live Q&A will follow the presentation

 

We will discuss the accurate path to finding new biology with Olink Explore HT and share technical details on the library's power, the robustness of the PEA assays, and the platform's accuracy. If you have technical questions on the Explore HT solution, come with them for the final live discussion.

 

Key Learning Objectives