Mic1/gdf15 as a bone metastatic disease biomarker

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate MIC1/GDF15 as a biomarker in the monitoring of bone metastases occurrence. Patients and Methods: The assessed group included patients diagnosed with: prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer. Patients were divided into two groups based on the scintigraphy of the occurrence of bone metastases. Group 0 contained 55 patients without bone metastases, that served as the control group. Group 1 contained 75 patients with bone metastases. Results: Higher levels (p<0.0001) of MIC1/GDF15 were found in group 1 (with bone metastases) compared to the group 0. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed an area under the curve (AUC) 0.87. At the point of 90% specificity we found a 65% sensitivity and cut-off value of 1.48 ng/ml. Conclusion: Circulating MIC1/GDF15 is a powerful biomarker for bone metastatic disease but insufficient sensitivity calls for further studies incorporating combinations with other novel or routine markers.