Effective management of retinoblastoma (RB), the most prevalent childhood eye cancer, depends on reliable monitoring and diagnosis. A promising candidate in this context is the secreted trefoil family factor peptide 1 (TFF1), recently discovered as a promising new biomarker in patients with a more advanced subtype of retinoblastoma. The present study investigated TFF1 expression within aqueous humor (AH) of enucleated eyes and compared TFF1 levels in AH and corresponding blood serum samples from RB patients undergoing intravitreal chemotherapy (IVC). TFF1 was consistently detectable in AH, confirming its potential as a biomarker. Crucially, our data confirmed that TFF1-secreting cells within the tumor mass originate from RB tumor cells, not from surrounding stromal cells. IVC-therapy-responsive patients exhibited remarkably reduced TFF1 levels post-therapy. By contrast, RB patients' blood serum displayed low-to-undetectable levels of TFF1 even after sample concentration and no therapy-dependent changes were observed. Our findings suggest that compared with blood serum, AH represents the more reliable source of TFF1 if used for liquid biopsy RB marker analysis in RB patients. Thus, analysis of TFF1 in AH of RB patients potentially provides a minimally invasive tool for monitoring RB therapy efficacy, suggesting its importance for effective treatment regimens.
Keywords: TFF1; aqueous humor; liquid biopsy; retinoblastoma; therapy monitoring.