New research from the University of Oxford has found that proteins in the blood can help detect cancer more than seven years before it is diagnosed.
During the investigation, scientists analyzed blood samples from more than 44,000 people stored in the UK Biobank, including more than 4,900 samples from people who had already been diagnosed with the disease. Each person’s proteins were then compared, identifying 618 types of proteins associated with 19 types of cancer, such as colon, lung, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and liver.
The analysis found that 107 proteins found in samples collected before diagnosis were associated with cancers diagnosed more than seven years in advance, and 182 were strongly associated with groups of people whose blood was collected at least three years in advance.
“The data is impressive. Detecting signs of cancer before it becomes clinically apparent offers the opportunity to treat it with a greater likelihood of success or, more importantly, achieve the Holy Grail of preventing cancer before it can occur,” said Mark Lawler. , Chair in Cancer Translational Genomics and Professor of Digital Health at Queen’s University Belfast, Ireland.
In a second study published in the journal NatureGenetic data from more than 300,000 people with cancer was also analyzed to understand differences in blood samples between those who developed cancer and those who did not. This time they discovered 40 proteins in the blood that may contribute to the development of nine types of cancer.
While changing these proteins can increase or decrease the likelihood of developing this type of disease, experts believe more research is needed to understand their exact role and which medications do not cause unwanted side effects.
“To save more lives from cancer, we need to better understand what happens in the early stages of the disease… [e] How proteins in our blood can influence our risk of cancer. We now need to study these proteins further to see which ones can be reliably used for prevention,” said epidemiologist and study co-author Keren Papier.
Author: SATURDAY
Source: CM Jornal
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