Decreased Fibulin-3 Levels in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

INTRODUCTION: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains a significant global health burden, highlighting the need to identify novel tumor biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis. The objective of this study was to investigate preoperative serum Fibulin-3 levels in patients with ESCC and to compare these levels with those of healthy individuals in order to assess the potential of Fibulin-3 as a diagnostic biomarker for ESCC
METHODS: A total of 70 patients (mean age, 56.7 years; 57.1% males) with ESCC and 50 controls (mean age, 55.9 years; 54.0% males) were included. Serum samples were collected preoperatively and analyzed for Fibulin-3 levels using a commercially available sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit (Biocompare, USA).
RESULTS: Preoperative serum Fibulin-3 levels were found to be significantly lower in patients with ESCC (mean, 35.91 ng/mL; range, 10-73 ng/mL) compared with the control group (mean, 96.61 ng/mL, range, 57-168 ng/mL) (p < 0.001).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this was the first study to report a significant reduction in serum Fibulin-3 levels in patients with ESCC. These findings suggested that Fibulin-3 may serve as a potential biomarker for ESCC detection. Further large-scale studies were warranted to clarify its clinical relevance and underlying molecular mechanisms in ESCC pathogenesis.

Keywords: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, fibulin-3, decreased levels, tumor biomarker, early detection