Doctors may soon be able to detect and monitor a patient’s cancer with a simple blood test, according to the results of a study published in the medical journal Actes de l’Académie des Sciences. A discovery that will reduce or eliminate the need for more invasive procedures and identify the risk of recurrence.
Researchers at Purdue University in the United States have identified a series of proteins in the blood plasma which, when elevated, means the patient has cancer. They conducted their study with samples from patients with breast cancer, but scientists speculate that the method could work for all types of cancers and other forms of disease.
The team analyzed nearly 2,400 phosphoproteins in blood samples and detected 144 of them at significantly elevated levels in cancer patients. To achieve these results, the researchers separated the plasma from the red blood cells, microvesicles and exosomes, particles, involved in the formation of metastases. Researchers are able to identify phosphoproteins in samples that are 5 years old.
A blood test to detect each type of cancer early
A simple blood test to detect the cancer would be much less invasive than biopsies and it would allow the doctor to regularly test a patient’s blood to understand the effectiveness of treatment and follow-up to identify the risk of recurrence.
“Vesicles and exosomes are present and released by all cancers, but researchers will develop models associated with different cancers,” said Timothy Ratliff, director of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research. “Early detection of cancer is key and has been shown to be effective in dramatically reducing the death rate associated with the disease. “
“There is almost no way to monitor patients after treatment, doctors just have to wait for the cancer to come back. Which puts the sick at risk, ”said W. Andy Tao, professor of biochemistry and member of the Purdue University Center.
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