Anais Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 In Montreal's newspaper (La Presse), sorry for the French. It's about a blood test to detect early stages of LC (source: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20061 ... CPACTUEL03) -- Cancer du poumon: bientôt un test de dépistage sanguin précoce? Maria Cheng Un test sanguin capable de dépister un cancer du poumon à un stade précoce pourrait sauver des millions de vies, si les résultats préliminaires présentés lundi lors du Congrès annuel de la société européenne de médecine oncologique se confirment. Ce Congrès réunit quelque 10 500 médecins, chercheurs, représentants de l'industrie pharmaceutique et des organisations non gouvernementales. Chez les fumeurs, les modifications génétiques sont fréquentes. Chez ceux qui développent un cancer, tout comme chez ceux qui souffrent d'autres maladies pulmonaires, on observe souvent le même type de dégénérescence cellulaire. Mais à un certain moment, les patients qui développent un cancer du poumon présentent des changements différents au niveau moléculaire. Le test fait la part entre un cancer du poumon et d'autres maladies pulmonaires, notamment l'emphysème. «Le but de ce test sanguin est de dépister les patients à un moment-clé, avant que le cancer ne s'étende», explique le Dr Paris Kosmidis, directeur de l'oncologie à l'hôpital Hygeia d'Athènes (Grèce), qui est extérieur à l'étude. «Si nous attrapons ce cancer à temps, nous avons prouvé par la pratique que nous pouvons le traiter». Le nouveau test détecte des protéines sécrétées dans le sang par des cellules cancéreuses. Dans le sang, les cellules cancéreuses produisent différents types et quantités de protéines, aboutissant à un profil protéique unique. Pour les chercheurs, cette signature protéique caractéristique du cancer du poumon pourrait être reconnue longtemps avant l'apparition des symptômes, et avant qu'elle ne soit visible à la radio, donnant aux patients la possibilité d'un traitement précoce, ce qui renforce leurs chances de survie. «Cette découverte pourrait aider à surmonter un immense problème dans le domaine du diagnostic», a déclaré le Dr William Jacot, auteur principal de l'étude et médecin oncologue de l'hôpital Arnaud de Villeneuve, Montpellier, France. Lui et ses collègues ont analysé des échantillons de sérum de 170 patients, parmi lesquels 147 présentaient un cancer du poumon et 23 une maladie pulmonaire chronique, à la recherche de la signature protéique des cellules cancéreuses. Leur test a identifié le cancer du poumon correctement dans presque 90% des échantillons testés. «Ce n'est pas encore suffisamment au point pour être utilisé comme un outil de surveillance, mais c'est mieux que les marqueurs de tumeur traditionnels», a indiqué William Jacot, ajoutant que la méthode employée dans ce test avait besoin d'être améliorée et ses résultats confirmés par des études plus vastes menées sur plus de gens en bonne santé, de manière à ne pas fausser les résultats. Près de 75% des patients atteints d'un cancer du poumon sont diagnostiqués à un stade déjà avancé, et le pronostic est en général mauvais, avec un maximum de 16% de personnes survivant au moins cinq ans après le diagnostic. Le cancer du poumon est le plus courant sur la planète, avec en moyenne deux millions de personnes diagnostiquées chaque année. Bien que les experts n'envisagent pouvoir utiliser ce test en routine médicale que dans cinq à 10 ans, il est selon eux prometteur. «Si ces résultats sont confirmés, ce test aura un impact incroyable», a déclaré le Dr Hans-Joachim Schmoll, directeur du service d'hématologie et d'oncologie de l'Université Martin Luther de Wittenberg (Allemagne). Un test similaire capable de détecter précocement un cancer de l'ovaire est en cours d'évaluation. Si l'approche française marche, les scientifiques devraient être capables de l'adapter à d'autres types de cancers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyW Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 I am not sure, but I think this is the same test. I do know they both use blood samples so here goes nothing. My french is really rusty I think this may be a close translation; Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 5:27 pm Post subject: Cancer Study Aims To Identify Protein Markers Major Cancer Study Aims To Identify Protein Markers For Early-stage Disease 02 Oct 2006 A team led by Bay Area scientists is one of five nationwide to receive a major grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to refine and standardize the technologies for identifying biomarkers in the blood -- specific proteins, and the patterns they make -- for the early detection of cancer. The grants, which signal the NCI's strategic shift toward studies aimed at early detection of cancer, are designed to lead to the discovery of many such biomarkers, the scientists say. The grants have been issued under the NCI's Clinical Proteomic Technology Assessment for Cancer program, part of its five-year Clinical Proteomic Technologies Initiative for Cancer. The team is directed by Susan Fisher, PhD, UCSF professor of cell and tissue biology, director of the UCSF Biomolecular Resource Center Mass Spectrometry Facility, a member of the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center and a visiting scientist in Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division. Co-principal investigators are Joe W. Gray, PhD, associate laboratory director for life and environmental sciences at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UCSF professor of laboratory medicine, and co-leader of the breast oncology program at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Bradford W. Gibson, PhD, a professor and director of chemistry at the Buck Institute for Age Research and UCSF adjunct professor of pharmaceutical chemistry. The team also includes key co-investigators at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The team will work to establish the best method for conducting mass spectrometry in the context of cancer biomarker discovery. Mass spectrometry is a technique used to detect and measure the precise molecular weight of proteins. A critical second step will involve consolidating the data and analyzing it, with the goal of piecing together the fragments of proteins identified in the research into recognizable molecules, and identifying patterns of proteins within given blood samples. The need to standardize mass spectrometry is great. Currently, the technology produces varying results in different labs. Research in one lab may suggest certain proteins are associated with a given blood sample, while research in another lab may point to other proteins. The capacity to detect proteins in fluids is of intense interest to cancer researchers because cancerous tumors "leak" proteins and other molecules into blood, urine and other accessible bodily fluids early on in their development. This knowledge is already being applied in the clinic: Elevated levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) hint at the presence of prostate cancer, while elevated levels of cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) suggest possible cancer of the ovary or other organs. However, both tests have "false negatives" or "false positives," making them unreliable. If mass spectrometry can be refined and standardized, scientists say, it could revolutionize the detection of cancer and lead to earlier interventions with current therapies -- surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and targeted drug therapy. The technique could also be used to monitor a cancer's response to treatment and to detect the recurrence of cancer after treatment. "This is an extraordinarily exciting endeavor," says Fisher. "We truly believe in this project, and that it is going to help people. We think that the methods we're proposing will work." The UCSF component of this research initiative will be carried out in two phases. Initially, scientists will study blood samples from mice that have been transplanted with human breast cancer cells. Later they will study blood samples from patients with various stages of the actual disease. The researchers will focus specifically on a phase in protein development known as "post-translational modifications," which occur after the code for a gene has been translated into a protein. Initially, the protein is a "naked scaffold," says Fisher, but over time it becomes decorated, much like a Christmas tree. This is the stage of "modification." It is known, says Fisher, that cancer cells decorate proteins very sloppily. "We want to use this knowledge against cancer cells," she says, "working to purify these poorly decorated proteins so that we can identify them as biomarkers in blood samples." Analyzing the complex data produced by mass spectrometry using advanced computing techniques - a science known as bioinformatics -- will be critical for making sense of the information, says Fisher. Part of the challenge will be the need to piece together data on fragments of individual proteins, rather than whole molecules, a result of a limitation of mass spectrometry: The instrumentation is not able to weigh an entire protein. The protein must first be cut, with an enzyme, into pieces. Once enough pieces of the puzzle are inputted into the database, it is expected that order will appear. The result could be the identification of biomarkers associated with early-stage cancer of the breast. ### The UCSF-led grant is funded for five years at approximately $1 million per year. The start-up funds that enabled purchase of the instruments were obtained through a grant from the Sandler Family Foundation. For more information on the NCI's Clinical Proteomic Technology Assessment for Cancer program, see: http://proteomics.cancer.gov//. UCSF is a leading university that consistently defines health care worldwide by conducting advanced biomedical research, educating graduate students in the health professions and life sciences, and providing complex patient care. http://www.ucsf.edu/. Contact: Jennifer O'Brien University of California - San Francisco Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=52918 _________________ Chris I lost a great friend to LC. Diagnosed 9/14/05 stage IIIB He never smoked. 10/05 lesions discovered on his liver 11/05 all treatment stopped. 12/10/05 I lost him to this horrid disease. He was only 31. I promised to never stop searching for a cure.. I never will. 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