Newly Identified Biomarkers May Help Predict Progression of Barrett’s Esophagus to Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
A series of microRNA expression signatures that may help to define progression of the precancerous condition Barrett’s esophagus into esophageal adenocarcinoma was reported recently in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
“Once a rare cancer representing only 5% of all esophageal cancers in the United States, esophageal adenocarcinoma is the cancer with the fastest-rising incidence—sixfold increase in the past 3 decades—and currently comprises more than 80% of all new esophageal cancer cases in this country,” said Xifeng Wu, MD, Chair of the Department of Epidemiology, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston. “To reduce the mortality of esophageal adenocarcinoma, the best hope in the near term is to detect it at its early stage, or even better, to prevent the progression of esophageal adenocarcinoma from its premalignant lesion, which is called Barrett’s esophagus.”
microRNA Expression
Dr. Wu and colleagues compared hundreds of microRNAs in normal esophageal epithelia and in Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma tissues of different histologic grades with distinct progression risks. They identified a number of differentially expressed microRNAs at each histologic stage.
“The expression of microRNAs in Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma tissues was remarkably similar, indicating that the microRNA aberrations were very early events in the development of Barrett’s esophagus,” Dr. Wu said. “These aberrations in microRNA expression may drive other late events that ultimately lead to carcinoma formation.”
The researchers also identified a small number of microRNAs that were significantly different between Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Specifically, downregulation of the microRNA miR-375 and upregulation of five microRNAs of the miR-17-92 and homolog family seemed to differentiate Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma.
“Therefore, those patients with Barrett’s esophagus with low levels of miR-375 and/or high levels of the other five microRNAs we found to be upregulated in esophageal adenocarcinoma are at increased risk for malignant progression and should be under intensive surveillance, screening, and treatment of their Barrett’s esophagus,” Dr. Wu said.
“Defining the protein-coding genes targeted by the differentially expressed microRNAs we identified may provide significant biological insights into the development of esophageal adenocarcinoma,” she added. “Moreover, these genes may themselves become promising biomarkers to predict Barrett’s esophagus progression as well as potential preventive and therapeutic targets.”
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
