Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

blood test image via Shutterstock

Simple blood test can diagnose lung and other cancers

Compounds that appear to be new screening markers were identified in the US study.

A US STUDY has found that early-stage lung and prostate cancers as well as their recurrence can be detected with a simple blood test as new markers have been identified.

Serum-free fatty acids and their metabolites may be used as screening biomarkers to help diagnose early stages of cancer, as well as identify the probability of recovery and recurrence after tumour removal, researchers found.

“While cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, diagnosis at the early stages of cancer remains challenging,” said Jinbo Liu, lead study author. “In this study, we identified compounds that appear to be new screening biomarkers in cancer diagnosis and prognosis.”

The study looked at blood samples from 55 patients with lung cancer and 40 patients with prostate cancer and compared them to blood samples of people without cancer. In a second phase of the study, blood was examined preoperatively from 24 patients scheduled for curative lung cancer surgery and again at six and 24 hours after the surgery.

The cancer patients had one- to six-times greater concentrations of serum-free fatty acids and their metabolites in their blood than patients without cancer. In the second phase, the serum-free fatty acid concentrations decreased by three to 10 times within 24 hours after tumour removal surgery.

“This is an exciting first step to having an uncomplicated way to detect early stages of lung, prostate and perhaps other cancers,” said Daniel I Sessler, chair of the Outcomes Research Department at Cleveland Clinic. which conducted the study. “It could also be used to measure the success of tumour resection surgery, immediately after surgery and long-term for recurrence screening.”

Read: Cancer cost Ireland €1.447 billion in 2009>

Read: Global survey shows advanced breast cancer patients are battling isolation>

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
16 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Giovanni Giusti
    Favourite Giovanni Giusti
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 6:52 AM

    Wonderful news

    70
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Peter Forde
    Favourite Peter Forde
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 8:33 PM

    Why wud people give u a thumb down for ur comment ? Strange folk

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Andrew Matheson
    Favourite Andrew Matheson
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 7:04 AM

    Hopefully we’ll see them built into the standard battery of blood tests in an effort to make early diagnoses and improve mortality rates.

    69
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute significantrisk
    Favourite significantrisk
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 8:05 AM

    Not that simple – there’s no point identifying a cancer early through screening unless a) you can do something about it and b) you can reliably identify which people would suffer more harm from the cancer than from the treatment.

    Screening for disease isn’t a benign activity – it can lead to significant harm to patients.

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mary Crimmins
    Favourite Mary Crimmins
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 9:53 AM

    You’ll be fighting a losing battle significantrisk.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Aisling Dunne
    Favourite Aisling Dunne
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 7:09 AM

    If cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, what’s the first? :/ great news all the same.

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Danny Hollywood
    Favourite Danny Hollywood
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 7:41 AM

    Heart disease

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Peter Forde
    Favourite Peter Forde
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 8:34 PM

    Aids???

    1
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Danny Hollywood
    Favourite Danny Hollywood
    Report
    Oct 17th 2013, 4:20 AM

    Cardiovascular disease’s are the number one killer globally according to WHO . This study relates to 2008 when 17.3 million people died (representing 30% of all global deaths and is estimated to reach 22 million deaths per year by 2030)
    Aids on the other hand has infected 70 million people in total globally , killing 35 million people so far and those numbers are declining because of better medication .This statistic is also from the WHO website .:)

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kathleen Clohessy
    Favourite Kathleen Clohessy
    Report
    Oct 28th 2014, 3:17 AM

    Heart disease.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Catherine Sims
    Favourite Catherine Sims
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 9:24 AM

    Excellent news. These blood tests are vital diagnostic tools. I saw on tv where a simple test developed in Ireland using just blood is identifying people at risk from cardiac disease. These people apparently have sticky platelets. This test is already in use in Beaumont Hospital . Medical research is always an area I try to donate to. Your money could potentially help millions . That’s some return for your donation.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute methuselah of rock
    Favourite methuselah of rock
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 8:03 AM

    Link to the study please!

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Lesley-Ann Byrne
    Favourite Lesley-Ann Byrne
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 8:09 AM

    This is positive news in the wake of all the bad news we are getting lately.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Seamus Mc Nulty
    Favourite Seamus Mc Nulty
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 8:23 AM

    How long to fruition?

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kathleen Clohessy
    Favourite Kathleen Clohessy
    Report
    Oct 28th 2014, 3:16 AM

    Can you please supply the name, location and principle investigators in the U.S. study you cite? There is a great deal of research going on in the areas of cancer epigenetics and some companies have been able to diagnose certain cancers with 75-90 percent accuracy with simple blood tests. (See http://medcitynews.com/2014/10/startups-breast-cancer-patients-pink-ribbon/ for more info.) Further, certain fatty acids have been recognized as markers for certain cancers–such as germ cell tumors and neuroblastoma, for decades (e.g. HVA and VMA) so this may or may not be “news.” At any rate, unsubstantiated reports are neither informative nor helpful; they are rumorsand typically do more harm than good.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael
    Favourite Michael
    Report
    Oct 16th 2013, 12:14 PM

    Think these is/was a group in NUIG who made something similar, detecting mRNA of faulty genes thus a indicator of cancer, or certain infections!

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds