The promise of this approach was
apparent in the mid eighties but was never advanced because it was simply too
early. I participated in a startup at the
time trying to make it all happen. No
matter, we now are on the way to having a pin prick blood test able to discern
prostate cancer.
Right behind that we should be
able to produce similar tests for each and every cancer type. Perhaps in the end we will end up with a hand
held testing device which is able to read out the results then and there. Dr McCoy would be pleased.
Once this falls into place, a
check up at proscribed times should allow all cancers to be tackled very early
in their careers when they can be readily cured. Discovery through secondary effects has
proven to be mostly too little and too late.
All told, this is good news for
the war on cnacer.
Biomarker research could lead to finger-prick cancer test
17:11 March 28, 2011
Biomarker research could lead to finger-prick cancer test (Photo: AlishaV via
Flickr)
A new interdisciplinary breakthrough could see cancer being diagnosed
through a quick finger-prick test. After five years of research, the team of
biologists, clinical oncologists, pathologists and information scientists from ETH Zurich, University
Hospital Zurich and the Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen have determined a
biomarker for prostate cancer – a particular pattern of proteins in the
blood that indicate the presence of cancerous disease.
A common precursor to prostate cancer in both mice and men is the
inactivation of the "Pten" gene, which can lead to uncontrolled cell
growth. Thus mouse models were used in the hope that subsequent steps would be
common between species. The researchers began by examining prostate surface
proteins and comparing protein sets in both healthy and cancerous mice that had
developed the disease following Pten inactivation. From this they determined a
pattern of proteins that is typical of the mutated version of Pten and thus
also for prostate cancer.
Examining tissues and serum samples from human prostate cancer
sufferers and a control group, and using the list of specific proteins drawn up
using the mouse model, the scientists were able to identify 39 corresponding
proteins in humans that indicated the presence of cancer. The information
scientists then calculated the four most reliable proteins as cancer indicators
using 20,000 models.
"We then used this biomarker pattern to examine a cohort of
patients whose blood had never previously been analyzed," says Wilhelm
Krek, professor of Cell Biology at ETH Zurich
It is presumed that the onset of cancer is often triggered by a
mutation, such as the deactivation of a gene, which can lead to a change in the
protein pattern of the affected organ. Separating off surface proteins of certain
tissues allows 20 percent of these protein patterns to be detected in the
serum, allowing a reliable method of diagnosis.
Currently, cancer is diagnosed by tumor antigens in the blood, but
these methods are often misleading and can involve expensive and painful
biopsies.
The identification of a reliable biomarker that indicates cancer has
been the subject of advanced studies by scientists for many years, but often
other factors were found to skew the results. "The protein patterns that
were determined may have reflected the patients' eating habits, but were unable
to provide any indication about whether or not a cancerous disease was
present," explains Krek. By contrast, the biomarker pattern method is
extremely precise, and even conveys information about the type of tumor which
helps to identify the best therapy to combat it. Other cancer
The biomarker signature needs to be validated in further clinical
trials, and the ETH Zurich
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