Novel technique could provide early lung cancer diagnosis

Researchers have developed a new technique that has the potential to identify specific lung cancer markers at the earliest possible stage in a convenient and reusable way.

The new technique could create a highly sensitive graphene biosensor with the capability to detect molecules of the most-common lung cancer bio-markers.

In addition, the new biosensor design could revolutionise the existing electronic nose (e-nose) devices that identify specific components of a specific vapour mixture — a person’s breath — and analyses its chemical make-up to identify the cause.

“The new biosensors which we have developed show that graphene has significant potential for use as an electrode in e-nose devices.

“For the first time, we have shown that with suitable patterning graphene can be used as a specific, selective and sensitive detector for bio-markers,” said a researcher.

With further development of the devices, a cheap, reusable and accurate breath test for early-stage detection of lung cancer can become a reality, the researchers added in a paper published recently.

Lung cancer is one of the most common and aggressive cancers, killing around 1.4 million people worldwide each year.

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Consortium Links Omega-3s to Decreased Risk of Fatal Heart Attack

An international consortium combined findings from a number of large studies that included data on levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the tissue or blood and examined the association with heart disease over time.

The epidemiological study, conducted by the Fatty acids and Outcomes Research Consortium (FORCE), found that higher consumption of plant and seafood-based omega-3s was moderately linked to a lower risk of dying from a heart attack.

Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in fish, with levels most abundant in salmon, trout, anchovies, sardines and herring, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Nutrient Database. Plant-based omega-2s can be found in certain nuts and oils such as walnuts, flaxseed oil and canola oil. The researchers, led by Liana C. Del Gobbo, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine and senior author Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, said that the findings support the idea that eating fish and omega-3 is an important part of a healthy diet, even though only some trials of fish oil supplements have shown benefits, while others have not.

Combined, the 19 studies centrally pooled in a meta-analysis involved 45,637 participants.  Over time, 7,973 of these people experienced a first heart attack, with 2,781 resulting in death. Patients with higher blood levels of both seafood and plant-based omega-3s were 10 percent less likely to have a fatal heart attack. For each standard deviation in levels of omega-3s the risk dropped, with those at the highest end of the spectrum seeing a decreased risk of 25 percent compared to those with the lowest levels. Interestingly, researchers did not link levels of fatty acid biomarkers to the likelihood of experiencing a nonfatal heart attack.  The authors say this might mean there is a more specific mechanism for why omega-3 helps lower risk of death.

“These new results, including many studies which previously had not reported their findings, provide the most comprehensive picture to-date of how omega-3s may influence heart disease,” Del Gobbo said in a prepared statement.  She said that the findings were consistent after considering a variety of factors including age, sex, race, diabetes, or use of cholesterol-lowering medications.

“Most prior studies of dietary fats have relied on self-reported estimates of intake,” Mozaffarian said in a statement. “This new global consortium provides an unprecedented opportunity to understand how blood biomarkers of many different fats and fatty acids relate to diverse health outcomes and many additional investigations are in progress.”

The findings were published June 27, in Jama Internal Medicine. 

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Vitamin D deficiency may lead to prostate cancer

Get under the morning sun sooner rather than later as vitamin D deficiency has now been linked to aggressive prostate cancer, an alarming study indicated.

"Vitamin D deficiency could be a bio-marker of advanced prostate tumour progression in large segments of the general population," said a Dr.

More research is needed, but it would be wise for men to be screened for vitamin D deficiency and treated, Dr. added.

"This is the first study to look at vitamin D deficiency and biopsy outcomes in men at high risk of prostate cancer," informed another Dr.

To reach this conclusion, scientists examined data collected from a diverse group of more than 600 men from the Chicago area who had elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels or other risk factors for prostate cancer. 

Each man was screened for vitamin D deficiency before undergoing a prostate biopsy.

The authors were surprised to find that vitamin D deficiency seemed to be a predictor of aggressive forms of prostate cancer diagnosis in African-American and European-American men.

"These men, with severe vitamin D deficiency, had greater odds of advanced grade and advanced stage of tumours within or outside the prostate," Murphy added.

Unless it is severe, vitamin D deficiency is fairly asymptomatic, so more effort needs to be put on screening.

It is a good idea to get your levels checked on a yearly basis, said the study published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

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Protein Found in Blood Might Help Detect Lung Cancer Sooner

A protein that can be detected using a non-invasive blood test might one day help aid in the early diagnosis of lung cancer, preliminary research suggests.

A study conducted by researchers  found that people with lung cancer have high levels of the so-called "bio-marker," isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1). The investigators pointed out that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women  around the world, and diagnosing the disease sooner could help reduce its high mortality rate.

"This study is the first to report identification of IDH1 as a novel bio-marker for the diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancers using a large number of clinical samples," said a  Dr. 

"Lung cancer has a high mortality rate, mostly because of late diagnosis. With an increase in ageing population, we are likely to see an increase in lung cancer incidence and a need for better biomarkers for early diagnosis. We have identified IDH1 as an effective plasma [blood] biomarker with high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of [non-small cell lung cancer]," He continued, especially the type known as lung adenocarcinoma.

The study, involved blood samples collected from 943 patients with non-small cell lung cancers and 479 people who did not have lung cancer (the "control" group). None of the patients was diagnosed or treated for cancer in the three years before the study began.

The study found that the median IDH1 levels in patients with lung adenocarcinoma were 2.7 times higher than the healthy participants. The levels of this protein were also 2.2 times higher in those with squamous cell carcinoma, compared to the control group.

He's team noted that IDH1 can be detected in the blood of lung cancer patients with 76 percent sensitivity and 77 percent specificity. That means 24 percent of the tests would miss lung cancer, and 23 percent would diagnose lung cancer when it wasn't there. The researchers noted that when combined with current markers used to diagnose lung cancer, the sensitivity increased to 86 percent.

"Based on the present data, IDH1 can be used to detect stage 1 lung cancer; however, it is also possible that IDH1 could be used to detect precancer but further studies are required to address that possibility," he added 

"Our research also suggests IDH1 may be involved in the development of lung cancer, and it may be a good target for the treatment of [non-small cell lung cancer],"  he said . The research team is currently studying what causes the increase of IDH1 in lung cancer patients and what the findings mean for patients.

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Dogs can sniff out ovarian cancer: Study

Woman's best friend! Researchers have trained dogs to sniff out the signature chemical compound that indicates the presence of ovarian cancer with 100 % accuracy.

Ohlin Frank, a trained chocolate Labrador has been able to detect ovarian cancer tissue 100 % of the time, researchers said.

Frank and its fellow trainee, McBaine Chamberlain, a spunky springer spaniel, are a part of an interdisciplinary research project at the University of Pennsylvania to help scientists discover a chemical footprint that might lead to earlier diagnostic tests to save human lives.

They are among 15 carefully bred detection dogs learning to sniff out explosives, drugs and missing people. Researchers are using the keen sense of smell of the dogs to identify the earliest odour of ovarian cancer, a silent killer often diagnosed too late.

Cancer cells leave a detectable biomarker, just as asparagus can affect the smell of urine when eaten.

A researcher hopes the dogs can be trained to narrow down a specific odour within two years, so scientists can design an inexpensive and less-invasive blood test to catch ovarian cancer while it's still treatable.

"All dogs are really good at sniffing, but part of what gives them a huge advantage over us is the surface area of the olfactory receptors," he said.

The dogs have already been introduced to the cancer tissue smell and were taught to sit when they found it.

His work builds on a 2010 Swedish study, which used pet giant schnauzers to detect ovarian cancer. Tissue tests showed sensitivity of 100 per cent and specificity of 95 per cent; blood tests showed sensitivity of 100 per cent and specificity of 98 per cent, the report said. Dogs with long noses have the largest surface areas of olfactory receptors, said researchers. 

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Insulin may boost breast milk supply

Scientists have found that the hormone insulin may play an important role in breast milk production, a finding that can help explain why many mothers have difficulty making enough milk to breastfeed.

Researchers  found insulin to be responsible for lactation success.

The study is the first to describe how the human mammary gland becomes highly sensitive to insulin during lactation. It is also the first study to get an accurate picture of how specific genes are switched on in the human mammary gland during lactation.

The researchers used next generation sequencing technology, RNA sequencing, to reveal "in exquisite detail" the blueprint for making milk in the human mammary gland, according to  author of the study.

For a long time, insulin was not thought to play a direct role in regulating the milk-making cells of the human breast, because insulin is not needed for these cells to take in sugars, such as glucose.

Scientists now, however, appreciate that insulin does more than facilitate uptake of sugars. This new study shows a dramatic switching on of the insulin receptor and its downstream signals during the breast's transition to a bio-factory that manufactures massive amounts of proteins, fats and carbohydrates for nourishing the newborn baby.

Researchers were able to use a non-invasive method to capture mammary gland RNA - a chain of

molecules that are blueprints for making specified proteins - in samples of human breast milk. They then created the first publicly accessible library of genes expressed in the mammary gland based on RNA-sequencing technology.

This approach revealed a highly sensitive portrait of the genes being expressed in human milk-making cells. They discovered an orchestrated switching on and off of various genes as the mammary gland transitions from secreting small amounts of immunity-boosting colostrum in the first days after giving birth to the copious production of milk in mature lactation.

In particular, the PTPRF gene, which is known to suppress intracellular signals that are usually triggered by insulin binding to its receptor on the cell surface, may serve as a bio-marker linking insulin resistance with insufficient milk supply.

Now that they've demonstrated the significance of insulin signalling in the human mammary gland, scientists are planning a phase I/II clinical trial with a drug used to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes to determine whether it improves insulin action in the mammary gland, thus improving milk supply.

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Urine Test Predicts Transplanted Kidney Rejection

A urine test can determine whether a transplanted kidney recipient is in the process of rejecting the donated organ, as well as identifying who is at risk of rejection several weeks and even months before symptoms appear.

The test measures three genetic molecules in a urine sample to diagnose acute rejection of kidney transplant, a common and serious complication of kidney transplants.

Lead author,  said "It looks to us that we can actually anticipate rejection of a kidney several weeks before rejection begins to damage the transplant."

The test could be a useful for doctors in deciding the right dosage of immuno-suppressive drugs that organ transplant recipients need to receive for the rest of their lives. Scientists feel that one day kidney transplant recipients may one day not require daily drugs.

Dr. said: "We have, for the first time, the opportunity to manage transplant patients in a more precise, individualized fashion. This is good news since it moves us from the current one-size-fits-all treatment model to a much more personalized plan."


When the immuno-suppressive drug dosage is too low the risk of rejection is greater. However, if patients are given too much their immune systems go right down and they have a much higher risk of infection, and even cancer.

The team conducted a multi-centre clinical trial involving 485 kidney transplant recipients at five medical centres. 

Co-author, explained that this bio-marker urine test is "sorely needed" to help improve the lives of transplant recipients as well as the longevity of donor organs. This three-gene signature in the new urine test is much more specific than the current primary blood test that measures creatinine levels to determine kidney rejection.

Dr.  said "Creatinine can go up for many reasons, including simple dehydration in a patient, and when this happens we then need to do a highly invasive needle-stick biopsy to look at the kidney and determine the cause. Our goal is to provide the most effective care possible for our transplant patients, and that means individualizing their post transplant care. Using an innovative bio-marker test like this will eliminate unnecessary biopsies and provide a yardstick to measure adequate immuno-suppression to keep organs -- and our patients -- healthy."

The scientists measured levels of mRNA (messenger RNA) molecules produced as genes are being expressed, or activated to make proteins. They developed some sophisticated tools to measure this genetic material.

They found that an organ will be (or is being) rejected when the expression of three mRNAs increases. "The mRNAs (18S ribosomal (rRNA)-normalized CD3ε mRNA, 18S rRNA-normalized interferon-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) mRNA, and 18S rRNA) indicate that killer T immune cells are being recruited to the kidney in order to destroy what the body has come to recognize as alien tissue."

The three mRNA levels in urine are added into a composite score and tracked over time. A rising score indicates that the immune system is very active and working against the transplanted kidney (rejecting the kidney). If the score remains the same, this suggests that the patient is not at risk of rejection.

Dr.  said "We were always looking for the most parsimonious model for an organ rejection biomarker test. Minimizing the number of genes that we test for is just more practical and helps to give us a clearer path towards diagnosis and use in the clinic."

Doctors can administer each patient's specific multiple immuno-suppressive drug dosage by monitoring their composite scores over time and adjusting accordingly. Any increase in composite scores would mean than a higher dose of therapy is needed to prevent rejection.

Dr. explained "This is akin to monitoring blood glucose in a patient with diabetes. Because different people have different sensitivity to the two-to-four immuno-suppressive drugs they have to take, this test offers us a very personalized approach to managing transplantations."

Rejection can be predicted weeks in advance

The human study started in 2006 and was conducted at five medical centres  4,300 urine samples were collected during the first 12 months of transplantation, starting at day three after the procedure. They were tested and where analysis revealed that the three gene-based bio-markers signature could distinguish organ recipients with biopsy-confirmed rejection from those whose biopsies showed no signs of rejection or who had no biopsy because no clinical sign of rejection was present.

The scientists used the signature to derive a composite score and set a threshold value which suggested rejection. This score detected transplant rejection accurately and had a low occurrence of false-positive and false-negative results.

Dr.  said "It is about 85 percent accurate, which is much higher than the creatinine test used today."

The team said they are soon conducting another trial to determine whether the signature test can be utilized to personalize individual immuno-suppressive therapy.

A single dose of special immune cells to prevent kidney transplant rejection shows promise, said researchers.





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New urine test technique helps detect breast cancer

Certain metabolites called pteredines are present in the urine of all human beings, but abnormally high concentrations can signal the presence of cancer.

A  researcher has developed a new screening method that 

uses urinalysis to diagnose breast cancer – and determine 

its severity – before it could be detected with a mammogram.

A study to confirm this technique’s effectiveness is under 

way and  uses a device called a P-scan, to detect the 

concentration of certain metabolites called pteredines in 

urine samples.

These biomarkers are present in the urine of all human 

beings, but abnormally high concentrations can signal the 

presence of cancer.

The researcher believes the levels continue to rise as the 

cancer advances.

She has had good results in limited testing and is now 

expanding testing in a larger study to prove that the 

technique works.

This blind study is part of the validation process required by 

the FDA to eventually make the P-Scan available in clinics 

across the country as an inexpensive, non-invasive test that 

could be used during routine physical examinations.

Once the researcher prove the technology works for breast 

cancer, they can begin to determine if studying pteredine 

levels in urine samples is an accurate way to detect and 

diagnose other types of cancers as well.

A NEW TEST TO DETECT CANCER, HIV AT THE EARLIEST FOUND

Scientists have developed a new ten times cheaper ultra-sensitive sensor test to detect the early stages of several cancers and viruses, including HIV, with the naked eye.

Researchers from the Imperial College London claim that their visual sensor technology is ten times more sensitive than the current gold standard methods for measuring bio-markers.

These indicate the onset of diseases such as prostate cancer and infection by viruses including HIV. The colour of a liquid changes to give either a positive or negative result.

Researchers say their sensor would benefit countries where sophisticated detection equipment is scarce, enabling cheaper and simpler detection and treatments for patients.

The team tested the effectiveness of the sensor by detecting a biomarker called p24 in blood samples, which indicates HIV infection.

The new approach affords for improved sensitivity, does not require sophisticated instrumentation and it is ten times cheaper, which could allow more tests to be performed for better screening of many diseases.

Researchers also tested samples for the bio-marker called Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), which is an early indicator for Prostate Cancer. The team say the sensor can also be reconfigured for other viruses and diseases where the specific bio-marker is known.

The sensor works by analysing serum, derived from blood, in a disposable container. If the result is positive for p24 or PSA, there is a reaction that generates irregular clumps of nanoparticles, which give off a distinctive blue hue in a solution inside the container.
If the results are negative the nanoparticles separate into ball-like shapes, creating a reddish hue. Both reactions can be easily seen by the naked eye.

The team also said that the sensor was so sensitive that it was able to detect minute levels of p24 in samples where patients had low viral loads, which could not be diagnosed using existing tests such as the Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test and the gold standard nucleic acid based test.

The researchers have developed a test that we hope will enable previously undetectable HIV infections and indicators of cancer to be picked up, which would mean people could be treated sooner.