New blood marker opens up new perspectives for cancer diagnostics

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men in Germany, with approximately 65,000 new cases per year, and the second leading cause of cancer death. If detected early, the prospects for successful treatment are good. In later stages, however, the cancer can spread. It then grows beyond the prostate into surrounding tissue or forms secondary tumors, known as metastases.

Dubrovska, who heads the “Biomarkers for Individualized Radiatiotherapy” working group at OncoRay, which is jointly supported by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (UKDD), and the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden, has already demonstrated in previous work that selected genes are suitable as biomarkers for prostate cancer. In a recent study, the team has now identified the protein MMP11 (matrix metalloproteinase 11) as a promising biomarker that is detectable in blood plasma and is therefore suitable for use in a blood test.

Proteins as potential biomarkers
Dubrovska's team worked with aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH) ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3. These are enzymes that play an important role in the metabolism of humans and other living organisms. Their earlier research showed that ALDH genes regulate the survival of tumor cells in the bloodstream and metastatic spread, thereby influencing resistance to radiation therapy and the formation of bone metastases. The researchers thus demonstrated that the genes can serve as potential biomarkers for disease progression in patients with prostate cancer.

Gorodetska, who characterized the underlying ALDH1A1/MMP11 signaling pathway in detail, was able to show that these ALDH proteins regulate a so-called signaling protein (transforming growth factor beta 1 TGFB1). This in turn controls the production of other proteins, including MMP11. This molecular signaling cascade plays a key role in making tumor cells more aggressive and invasive. The central finding of the study is the identification of MMP11 as a powerful biomarker. Analyses of multiple patient datasets show that high MMP11 gene expression is closely associated with advanced and high-risk prostate cancer.

From biomarker to blood test
In addition, the team was able to confirm these findings by directly measuring MMP11 protein levels in the blood plasma of patients: The results show that elevated MMP11 concentrations in the blood are a potential marker for metastasis and a less favorable prognosis in patients with metastatic prostate cancer who are treated with local radiation therapy. This opens up the prospect of a minimally invasive blood test that could help detect aggressive disease progression at an early stage, make more targeted therapy decisions, and monitor treatment success in real time. The corresponding research results were published in an international journal in 2025 (DOI: 10.1186/s13046-025-03299-6).

“Our data show that MMP11 is not only a biologically relevant driver of tumor aggressiveness, but could also be a clinically useful marker,” explains Dubrovska. “In the long term, such a blood test could help to treat patients more individually and avoid over- or under-treatment. Our results therefore represent an important milestone on the way to more precise, personalized, and patient-friendly diagnosis and treatment strategies for prostate cancer.”

However, the path to clinical application is challenging. The researchers expect that the development of a clinically applicable test will take several years, as is the case with comparable biomarkers. Nevertheless, the current results mark an important milestone on the road to innovative, personalized diagnostic procedures in oncology.

An important next step has already been taken: in cooperation with the Polish Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, MMP11 is now being further validated in several independent liquid biopsy cohorts from Germany and Poland. This is made possible by funding from the German Research Foundation for Gorodetska's own research project.

SOURCE: HZDR