Elucidation of the mechanism of expression of GDPP, a novel blood biomarker of bone metastases

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K23002
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0906:Surgery related to the biological and sensory functions and related fields
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Gaku Yamamichi 大阪大学, 医学部附属病院, 医員 (40882262)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: GDPP / 転移性骨腫瘍

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Early detection and early treatment are important for bone metastases, as they can occur in almost all carcinomas and significantly reduce QOL. Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDPP), which we identified as a novel protein that can be measured in blood and established a measurement assay system, is secreted by bone-related cells, such as osteoclast, osteoblast and osteocyte and may be more useful than existing bone turnover markers.
We investigated the diagnostic ability of GDPP for bone metastasis using samples from prostate, urothelial, and renal cancer patients, and found that the AUC values of GDPP were 0.90, 0.87, and 0.81, all higher than those of ALP (0.65, 0.87, and 0.67).

Free Research Field

泌尿器癌

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

我々が新規に見出し作成した血中GDPP測定キットは泌尿器癌において、従来の日常臨床で用いられている骨代謝マーカーよりも骨転移を鋭敏に診断できかつ、骨転移量とも強く相関している可能性が示された。血中バイオマーカーとしてGDPPを測定することは、骨転移診断を簡便かつ早期に行えて患者のQOLや予後の改善に寄与する可能性があると考えられる。