Anti-α-enolase is a prognostic marker in postoperative lung cancer patients

// Kuan-Chung Hsiao 1, 2 , Neng-Yao Shih 2 , Pei-Yi Chu 3, 4 , Yi-Mei Hung 2 , Jia-Yi Liao 2 , Shao-Wen Chou 2 , Yi-Yuan Yang 5 , Gee-Chen Chang 6, 7, 8, 9, * , Ko-Jiunn Liu 1, 2, 5, * 1 Institute of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan 2 National Institute of Cancer Research, National Health Research Institutes, Tainan, Taiwan 3 School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan 4 Department of Pathology, Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Changhua City, Taiwan 5 School of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan 6 Faculty of Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan 7 Division of Chest Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan 8 Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan 9 School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Gee-Chen Chang, e-mail: august@vghtc.gov.tw Ko-Jiunn Liu, e-mail: kojiunn@nhri.org.tw Keywords: lung cancer, ENO1 Received: April 24, 2015 Accepted: September 15, 2015 Published: September 26, 2015 ABSTRACT Our previous studies suggest that antibodies against ENO1 (anti-ENO1 Ab) have a protective role in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic value of anti-ENO1 Ab levels in non-small cell lung carcinoma patients undergoing surgery. Circulating levels of anti-ENO1 Ab were assessed in 85 non-small cell lung carcinoma patients before and after surgery, and were correlated with clinical outcome. After surgery, patients with a higher increase of anti-ENO1 Ab had a lower hazard ratio and a better progression-free survival. Using animal models, we demonstrated that tumor cells reduce the circulating levels of anti-ENO1 Ab through physical absorption and neutralization of anti-ENO1 Ab with surface-expressed and secreted ENO1, respectively. Mice transplanted with ENO1-overexpressing tumors generated ENO1-specific regulatory T cells to suppress the production of anti-ENO1 Ab. Our results suggest that the increase of anti-ENO1 Ab may reflect anti-tumor immune responses and serve as a prognostic marker in postoperative lung cancer patients.