Prostate Cancer
Urine RNA sequencing to find biomarkers for high-risk prostate cancer prediction
European Urology Open Science 2022;44(Suppl 2):S187
Authors: Lopeta M., Paliksa S., Belevicius J., Barisiene M., Bakavicius A., Mickevicius R., Zilys S., Ulys A., Juodele L., Jankevicius F., Jievaltas M., Gagilas J.
Results: >50,000 genes were detected including ~17,000 protein-coding and ~36,000 nkRNA genes from Ensembl and mitranscriptome databases. 14 genes were identified as DEGs and 6 of them were removed due to lack of enrichment after prostate massage. The selection included notable PCA3 and ERG biomarkers which were forced into the LASSO model for the prediction of high-risk PC. The cross-validated AUC value for the model was 0.76 and it was higher than PSA (0.70). The final model included only one additional biomarker as statistical power was low. Thus, further validation of candidate markers is needed.
Evaluation of urine biomarkers for high risk prostate cancer diagnostics
European Urology Open Science 2022;40(Suppl 1):S12
Authors: Veneviciute S., Lopeta M., Paliksa S., Gagilas J., Barisiene M., Bakavicius A., Mickevicius R., Zilys S., Ulys A., Juodele L., Jankevicius F., Jievaltas M.
Results: ACPP and KLK3 gene transcripts were selected as best combination for biomarkers normalization. Biomarkers that showed increased relative quantity after DRE (p<0.05) were further analysed by LASSO analysis. 6 urine biomarkers after this analysis were selected for prediction of clinically significant (Gleason ≥7) PC (Fig 1). Estimated AUC value for model was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.68 – 0.88).
Diagnostic performance of PCA3 and TMPRSS2:ERG biomarkers in prostate cancer patients urine collected with and without prostate massage
European Urology Supplements 2019;18(3):e2427
Authors: Paliksa S., Gagilas J., Lopeta M., Ukanis M., Kasiliauskiene L., Jurgeleviciute L., Zutautaite I., Barisiene M. , Bakavicius A. ,Mickevicius R. , Zilys S. , Zykus A. , Ulys A. , Juodele L. , Jankevicius F. , Jievaltas M. , Janulaitis A.
Results: PCA3 and TMPRSS2:ERG biomarkers in combination with PSA density and patients age demonstrated high diagnostic performance (AUC) for both prostate cancer and high grade (GS7+) prostate cancer in urine without DRE. After the DRE diagnostic performance, specificity and NPV of the tested biomarkers was higher.
Biomedical research: „Prostatos vėžio diagnostika“, protocol No. 2015-PVD, approval No. L-15-06/1. Research was carried out from 2015 to 2018. Results of the research were utilized for the development of non-invasive prostate cancer test.
Other
SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR Ct values in saliva and nasopharyngeal swab samples for disease severity prediction
J Oral Microbiol. 2023; 15(1): 2213106
Authors: Snipaitiene K., Zablockiene B., Sabaliauskaite R., Zukauskaite K., Matulyte E., Smalinskaite T., Paulauskas M., Zablockis R., Lopeta M., Gagilas J., Puriene A., Jancoriene L., Jarmalaite S.
Results: SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 65% vs. 53% of nasopharyngeal swab samples (NPSs) and 49% vs. 48% of saliva samples (SSs) collected from Cohort I (mild+moderate disease, N = 47) and II (severe disease, N = 53), respectively, resulting in the total respective detection rates of 58% vs. 48% (P = 0.017). Ct values of SSs were lower than those of NPSs (mean Ct = 28.01 vs. 30.07, P = 0.002). Although Ct values of the first SSs were significantly lower in Cohort I than in Cohort II (P = 0.04), it became negative earlier (mean 11.7 vs. 14.8 days, P = 0.005). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that Ct value ≤30 from SSs was the independent predictor for severe COVID-19 (HR = 10.06, 95% CI: 1.84–55.14, P = 0.008).
Saliva Testing is a Robust Non-Invasive Method for SARS-CoV-2 RNA Detection
Infect Drug Resist. 2021 Jul 27;14:2943-2951.
Authors: Paliksa S., Lopeta M., Belevicius J., Kurmauskaite V., Asmenaviciute I., Pereckaite L., Vitkauskiene A., Baliutyte I., Valentaite M., Mickiene A., Gagilas J.
Results: We found a good concordance between the nasopharyngeal (NP) swab and saliva samples. The positive percent agreement was 98.28% (CI 90.76-99.96%) and negative percent agreement was 98.11% (CI 89.93-99.95%). Additionally, we observed a statistically significant (p<0.05) and moderately strong (R = 0.53) correlation between Ct values in saliva and NP swab samples. The saliva collection method is more robust since the Ct variation of internal control ribonuclease P mRNA detection is lower in saliva samples.
Biomedical research: „SARS-CoV-2 viruso nustatymo seilių mėginiuose tyrimas”, protocol No. CoV-2020-1, approval No. BE-2-72, research period from 2020-10 to 2021-03.
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