Table 1.
Polarity changes as biomarkers
| Polarity alteration | Function | Type of biomarker | Marker | Cancer | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| non specific | diagnostic: Tumoral (vs healthy) | Tissue staining (Immunohistochemistry) | Global apico-basal polarity loss | Majority of carcinoma | Routinely used in clinics |
| Lgl2 alteration | diagnostic: higher grades | Tissue staining (Immunohistochemistry) | Lgl2 loss or mislocalization | PDAC (pancreas) | Lisovsky et al, 2010 |
| High Par3 | diagnostic: metasatasis extrahepatic | Tissue staining (Immunohistochemistry) | High Par3 expression | HCC (liver) | Jan et al, 2013 |
| low aPKCζ | diagnostic: more invasive-metastatic | Titration in serum | miR200s+-exosomes (in low aPKCζ CRC) | CRC (colorectal) | Shelton et al, 2018 |
| Mislocalisation of Par6 | diagnostic: higher grade, more invasive | Tissue staining (Immunofluorescence) | Mislocalized Par6 in nucleus | Breast cancer | Catterall et al, 2020 |
| Par6 at membrane | diagnostic: tumour type | Tissue staining (Immunofluorescence) | Par6 at membrane | Luminal subtype (Breast cancer) | Catterall et al, 2020 |
| low Crumb3 | Pronostic: lower OS | Tissue staining (Immunohistochemistry) | Weak Crumb3 staining | ccRCC (Kidney) | Mao et al, 2015 |
| High Par3 | Pronostic: lower OS | Tissue staining | High Par3 staining | HCC (liver) | Li et al, 2021 |
| Polarity inversion | Pronostic: lower OS and resistance to treatment | Tissue staining + Automated Morphometry | Inverted polarity (Cytokeratin, Mucus, stroma) | Mucinous CRC | Canet-Jourdan et al, 2022 |
| low aPKCζ | Pronostic: lower OS | Tissue staining | Low aPKCζ | CRC | Yeo et al, 2018 |
| low Par6β | Pronostic: lower OS | Tissue staining | Low Par6β | CRC | Yeo et al, 2018 |
| low aPKCι+ζ | Pronostic: lower OS | Tissue staining | Low aPKCι+ζ/ High HA | mesenchymal CRC | Martinez-Ordoñez et al, 2022 |
| low Lgl2 | Pronostic: higher OS and DFS | mRNA level (qPCR) | Low Lgl2/Low SLC7A5 | All breast cancer | Hisada et al, 2022 |
| low Lgl2 | Pronostic: higher OS (better response to tamoxifen) | mRNA level (qPCR) | Low Lgl2/Low SLC7A6 | ER+_breast cancer + tamoxifen | Hisada et al, 2022 |
| High aPKCι | Pronostic: lower OS and RFS | mRNA level (qPCR) | High aPKCι | Breast cancer | Catterall et al, 2020 |
| High Dlg1 | Pronostic: lower OS and RFS | mRNA level (qPCR) | High Dlg1 | Breast cancer | Catterall et al, 2020 |
| Low Par6β | Pronostic: lower OS and RFS | mRNA level (qPCR) | Low Par6β | Breast cancer | Catterall et al, 2020 |
Biomarkers are quantifiable indicators of physio-pathological features used to (1) differentiate healthy from cancerous tissues, (2) identify the aggressiveness of a cancer and predict the future course of the disease or (3) predict pharmacological response to treatments. Useful biomarkers in oncology comprise genetic alterations, abnormal protein expression or localization, morphological pattern on tissue sections, presence of circulated tumor cells, and extracellular vesicles in the blood. This table presents the cell polarity changes considered as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarkers. The list is non-exclusive as it mainly highlights the most recent findings. For more complete information, the reader can refer to Halaoui and McCaffrey (2015); and Lo et al. (2012). OS, Overall Survival; DFS, Disease free Survival; RFS, Relapse-Free Survival. References from the table: Lisovsky et al. (2010); Jan et al. (2013); Mao et al. (2015); Li et al. (2021); Yeo et al. (2018); and Hisada et al. (2022).