Potential Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer

Biomarkers provide a platform to aid early detection, diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of the disease. In the case of cervical cancer, the biomarkers primarily serve to identify the viral infection at a precancerous stage in order to aid in early intervention. They are broadly classified into molecular markers (nucleic acid based) and protein-based markers. Nucleic acid-based molecular markers are primarily based on the detection of HPV as the integration of HPV DNA into the host genome is a critical player in progression of the tumor. In addition, specific DNA loci in the human genome are also reported to have global and local epigenetic variation in the presence of HPV infection and thus act as suitable biomarkers. Less common but reliable nucleic acid-based markers include analysis of non-coding RNA such as miRNA, circular RNA (circRNA), and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). The non-coding RNA and epigenetics-based screening platforms are currently at a nascent stage and thence further basic science research is essential to prove their clinical applicability. Protein-based biomarkers include differentially expressed host protein due to the influence of HPV oncoproteins. These biomarkers broadly fall into the categories of cell cycle regulators (KIF11, DTL), tumor suppressors (CBX7, KLK10), or proto-oncogenes (HBXIP, SMC4). Thence, an in-depth evaluation of the molecular and protein-based biomarkers will pave the way to affordable, simple, selective, and specific detection of cervical cancer at an early stage.