Platelet protein biomarker panel for ovarian cancer diagnosis

Background: Platelets support cancer growth and spread making platelet proteins candidates in the search for biomarkers. Methods: Two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis, Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), Western blot, DigiWest. Results: PLS-DA of platelet protein expression in 2D gels suggested differences between the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stages III-IV of ovarian cancer, compared to benign adnexal lesions with a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 88%. A PLS-DA-based model correctly predicted 7 out of 8 cases of FIGO stages I-II of ovarian cancer after verification by western blot. Receiver-operator curve (ROC) analysis indicated a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 76% at cut-off >0.5 (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.831, p < 0.0001) for detecting these cases. Validation on an independent set of samples by DigiWest with PLS-DA differentiated benign adnexal lesions and ovarian cancer, FIGO stages III-IV, with a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 83%. Conclusion: We identified a group of platelet protein biomarker candidates that can quantify the differential expression between ovarian cancer cases as compared to benign adnexal lesions.