Japanese researchers have developed a new device to detect an important membrane protein in the urine that indicates a patient has a brain tumor.
A specific protein could be used to detect brain cancer, eliminating the need for invasive testing and increasing the chance of the tumor being found early enough for surgery. Lab+Life Scientist writes that the team’s research could also have potential implications for the detection of other types of cancer.
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Although early detection of many cancers has contributed to the recent increase in cancer survival rates, the survival rate for brain tumors has remained virtually unchanged for over 20 years. This is partly due to their late detection: Doctors usually only discover brain tumors after the onset of neurological symptoms such as loss of movement or speech, by which time the tumor reaches a significant size. Finding a tumor while it’s still small and starting treatment as soon as possible will help save lives.
A possible sign that a person has a brain tumor is the presence of tumor-associated extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the urine. EVs are nano-sized vesicles involved in a variety of functions, including intercellular communication. Because brain cancer patients have certain types of RNA and membrane proteins, they can be used to detect the presence and progression of cancer. Many EVs from cancer cells are stably present and excreted in the urine without being destroyed.
“Liquid biopsy can be done using many body fluids, but blood tests are invasive,” said Associate Professor Takao Yasui of Nagoya University.
A research team from Nagoya University and the University of Tokyo led by Yasui has developed a new platform for the analysis of BB brain tumors using nanowires at the bottom of a well plate. Using this device, they identified two specific types of BB membrane proteins, known as CD31/CD63, in urine samples from brain tumor patients. Finding these distinctive proteins could allow doctors to identify patients with tumors before they develop symptoms.
“Currently, methods of isolating and detecting explosives require more than two tools and analysis to isolate and then detect explosives,” Yasui said. Versatile nanowire analysis can isolate and detect explosives in one simple procedure. In the future, users will selectively modify the detection part to detect certain membrane proteins or miRNAs within EVs to detect other types of cancer. Using this platform, we hope to improve the analysis of specific membrane protein expression levels in patients’ urinary EVs. allows for early detection of different types of cancer.”
Previously Focus wrote about new vaccines against breast cancer. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic have embarked on the next step in vaccine research aimed at preventing the most aggressive and deadly form of breast cancer.
Source: Focus
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