Spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase-1 as a diagnostic biomarker in human cancer

Aim: SSAT-1 is an enzyme that plays a critical role in cell growth. Amantadine, a FDA-approved antiviral drug, is a substrate for SSAT-1. The utility of amantadine as an agent to demonstrate elevated SSAT-1 activity linked to cancer was conducted. Results: High levels of SSAT-1 expression were measured in tumor human cell lines, and in breast, prostate and lung tumor tissue. An increase in the urinary levels of acetylated amantadine in cancer patients was observed. Conclusion: Increases in SSAT-1 contents in tumor tissue could be of value in targeting cancers with high SSAT-1 expression for confirmation/quantification. The high levels of acetylated amantadine could be used as a simple and useful screening test for the presence of cancer. Lay abstract: In response to cancer, cells tend to overproduce specific enzymes as a self-defense mechanism. By using a safe and reliable method to capture and measure the excess enzyme spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase-1, the presence of cancer can be established. This study describes a novel approach of detecting and screening cancer noninvasively in the urine of cancer patients using a safe and approved drug called amantadine that acts as a smart-tracking agent. Higher levels of the acetylated form of amantadine are detectable in the urine of cancer patients, which may serve as a detection tool. In addition, increases in the amount of spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase-1 in tumor tissue may provide a tool for determining the presence of cancer during pathology assessment. [GRAPHICS] .