Soluble Suppression of Tumorigenicity 2: A Role in BiomarkerGuided Therapy of Heart Failure

Current clinical guidelines of European Society of Cardiology and American Heart Association regarding the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic HF recommend to use natriuretic peptides (NPs) as powerful diagnostic and predictive biomarker, while other biomarkers, such as galectin-3, cardiac troponins, and soluble suppressor of tumorigenisity (ST2) are embedded onto American Heart Association statement to improve a risk stratification, as well as NPs are considered for performing biomarker-guided therapy. The aim of the Editorial is to summarize knowledge among clinical efficacy of heart failure (HF) guidance care based on serial measure of sST2. Elevated levels of sST2 are established biomarker of high risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, new diagnosed HF and re-admission due to HF decompensation, Therefore, a trend to declined serum levels of sST2 was associated with improved survival and decreased re-hospitalization in patients with different phenotypes of HF. It has shown that serial measure of sST2 concentrations in HF patients can predict poor clinical outcomes and personally optimize treatment care, especially in combination with repetitive measure of NT-proBNP levels. However, the role of combined biomarker approach (sST2 + NT-proBNP) in the clinical care of the HF patient is not yet partially defined and more large clinical trials are needed.