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STEAP4+ neutrophils: a promising circulating biomarker for lung metastasis

Ai, C.; Wu, H.; Yang, H.; Wang, J.; Liu, C.; Ng, M. S. F.; Zhou, Z.; Zhuang, F.; Gao, Q.; Wang, L.; Shi, C.; Zhu, L.; Bu, Z.; Chen, C.; Ng, L. G.; Zhang, Z.

2025-12-27 cancer biology
10.64898/2025.12.27.696660 bioRxiv
Show abstract

As the leading contributor to cancer-related mortality, metastasis often evades detection until advanced stages, underscoring the critical need for early predictive biomarkers. Neutrophils are naturally circulating sentinels that have been implicated in pioneering pre-metastatic niche formation in distant organs. Nevertheless, their heterogeneity within evolving metastatic microenvironments remains poorly characterized. Here, through dynamically delineating neutrophil subsets via single-cell transcriptomics, we identified a conserved feature of lung metastasis in breast cancer and other cancer models. Among the core genes, a cell surface marker, STEAP4, was selected and validated to indicate lung metastases at both RNA and protein levels. In both humans and mice, these STEAP4+ neutrophils were detectable not only in lung metastatases but also in the circulation. Clinically, the abundance of circulating STEAP4+ neutrophils robustly discriminates patients with lung metastasis from those with localized primary tumor. Our findings uncover STEAP4+ neutrophils as a promising biomarker and lay the groundwork for a non-invasive, blood-based diagnostic strategy for metastatic disease.

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