Table 2 Clinical utility of exosomes in cancer

Kharmate et al., 2016 [51]

The expression level of EGFR in exosomes derived from prostate cancer cells and prostate cancer patient serum

Presence of exosomal EGFR in prostate cancer patient exosomes may present a novel biomarker for measuring of the disease state

Machida et al., 2016 [52]

The expression of four miRNAs (miR-1246, miR-3976, miR-4306, and miR-4644) in salivary exosomes from patients with pancreatobiliary tract cancer

MiR-1246 and miR-4644 were significantly higher expressed in the cancer group than those in the control group, suggesting that miRNAs in exosomes can be used as candidate biomarkers for tumors

Tian et al., 2014 [58]

Exosomes derived from mouse immature dendritic cells are loaded with doxorubicin via electroporation

Intravenously injected exosomes deliver doxorubicin specifically to tumor tissues and lead to inhibition of tumor growth without overt toxicity, suggesting that exosomes can be used as transporters loaded with various anticancer drugs

Koyama et al., 2016 [61]

Exosomes derived from B16 melanoma cells which are transfected with a plasmid encoding the Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen are collected and injected into foot pads of mice

The modified exosomes significantly evoked cellular immunity against B16 tumor cells, and suppressed tumor growth in syngeneic B16 tumor-bearing mice, suggesting that exosomes have a high potential as a candidate for cancer vaccine to overcome the immune escape by tumor cells

Vered et al., 2015 [63]

They investigate CAV1 in exosomes of TSCC and its association with clinical outcomes

The expression of CAV1 in TSCC had a higher score in exosomes than in the tumor cells and a negative impact on recurrence and survival, suggesting that exosomes can be used as novel prognostic biomarkers for tumors