Screening of serum biomarkers using antibody microarray in diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma

Objective Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is one of the most common types of endocrine cancer. Given that a certain percentage of PTCs are very aggressive and prone to recurrence, early diagnosis of PTCs is of great clinical significance. However, it remains a diagnostic challenge because of lack of reliable serum biomarkers currently. This study aimed to find novel biomarkers with good diagnostic value for PTCs. Methods A total of 31PTC patients and 31healthy controls were included in this study. The Human Antibody Arrays were used to screen potential biomarkers and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis was performed to validate candidate proteins. The receiver operating characteristic curve was utilized to evaluate the diagnostic value of candidate. Results The mean levels of phosphatidylserine decarboxylase (PISD), prostaglandin E synthase 3 (PTGES3), prostaglandin D2 synthase (HPGDS), and proteasome 20S were 14.11±0.32 ng/mL, 14.09±7.01 ng/mL, 178.31±32.50 pg/mL, and 0.18±0.21 μg/mL in serum samples of PTC patients, and were 12.46±6.31 ng/mL, 11.27±4.23 ng/mL, 199.22±25.91 pg/mL, and 0.06±0.05 μg/mL in healthy control samples, respectively. Compared to the control group, the expression of PTGES3 and proteasome 20s were higher in the PTC group. Interestingly, the combination of HPGDS and proteasome 20S yields a better predictive value of PTC with a sensitivity and specificity of 80.56% and 75.00%, respectively. Conclusion The combination of HPGDS and proteasome 20S may serve as a potential predictive biomarker for PTC.