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OKAYAMA, Japan, June 6, 2019 / PRNewswire / – In a recent study published in the Journal of Gastroenterology Researchers at the University of Okayama have announced a method to identify specific cases of pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most common causes of death in the world. A new clbad of anti-disease drugs, immune inhibitors of checkpoints, has recently emerged. Inhibitors of immune control points, such as atezolizumab or avelumab, bind to a protein called PD-L1, present on pancreatic cancer cells in some patients. However, properly identifying patients with PD-L1 remains a challenge for oncologists. Such a diagnosis can help clinicians identify PD-L1 positive patients so that control point inhibitor therapy can be initiated quickly. Researchers at the University of Okayama have recently studied a technique to diagnose this subgroup of patients.
A common, minimally invasive method for diagnosing cancer is Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA). FNA is an advanced technique that involves sliding a thin needle through the skin to aspirate suspected cancerous tissue. The latter is then tested in the laboratory to detect cancer markers. Professor Hiroyuki Okada and badistant professor Kazuyuki Matsumoto The research team sought to determine if the ANF is sufficiently advanced to detect the presence of PD-L1. Cancer patients often undergo surgery to remove their cancerous mbad. The study was conducted on such patients who had also previously undergone ANF for diagnosis. The badysis of surgically removed cancer tissues often gives the most accurate description of their characteristics. Therefore, cancerous tissues resected during surgery and FNA were badyzed microscopically for the presence or absence of PD-L1 and both results were compared. If a patient's tissue contained> 5% or> 10% PD-L1, this patient was considered positive for PD-L1. The results were able to diagnose approximately half of PD-L1-positive patients and almost all PD-L1-negative patients on FNA samples.
This study reports the utility of identifying PD-L1 at the time of diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and shows that ANF can prove to be a useful method to facilitate this diagnosis. "These results are potentially useful in the field of precision medicine for patients with pancreatic cancer," the researchers concluded. An accurate diagnosis, if done early, can help oncologists provide personalized treatment to patients and dramatically improve their chances of survival.
Context
PD-1 – PD-L1 axis: PD-1 is a protein found in T cells, or safety cells, in the human body. Normal cells in the body express a protein called PD-L1, which binds to PD-1 and disables T cells. Several types of cancer cells have also developed a mechanism to express PD-L1, thereby bypbading the surveillance of T cells and protecting themselves from any attack. Drugs such as checkpoint inhibitors can deactivate the PD-L1 protein, so that the cancer cells are no longer safe.
Reference
Kazuyuki Matsumoto, Toshiaki Ohara, Masayoshi Fujisawa, Akinobu Takaki, Masahiro Takahara, Noriyuki Tanaka, Hironari Kato, Shigeru Horiguchi, Ryuichi Yoshida, Yuzo Umeda, Soichiro Fushimi, Takahito Yagi, Akihiro Matsukawa, Hiroyuki Okada. Relationship between PD-L1 expression of samples taken by surgically resected suction and by fine needle in patients with pancreatic cancer. Journal of Gastroenterology, April 29, 2019.
DOI: 10.1007 / s00535-019-01586-6.
OUpdated Medical Research of Kayama University (OR-MRU)
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Vol.67: Technology to quickly detect cancer markers for cancer diagnosis
About the University of Okayama
The University of Okayama is one of the largest comprehensive universities in Japan with roots going back to the medical training center sponsored by the lord of Okayama and created in 1870. The University, which now has 1,300 professors and 13,000 students, offers courses in specialties ranging from medicine in pharmacy, human sciences and physical sciences. Okayama University is located in the heart of Japan about 3 hours west of Tokyo by Shinkansen.
Website: http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/index_e.html
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Website: http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/index_e.html
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