Study identifies potential markers of lung cancer

By examining blood samples and tumor tissue from non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, Mbadachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers identified markers that distinguish major lung cancer subtypes and to accurately identify the stage of lung cancer. Their validation test accurately determined whether the blood samples badyzed were from patients with longer or shorter survival after lung cancer surgery, including patients with early-stage disease.

Their findings could eventually help doctors decide if a lung cancer patient can benefit from standard treatment or if he needs more aggressive treatment. The study is published in the journal in open access Scientific reports.

The US Preventative Services Task Force is currently recommending that middle-aged and older people with a history of smoking be screened annually for lung cancer with a low-dose CT scan. Low-dose CT is effective at detecting small lung tumors, but the cost of CT scans and the risks of repeated radiation exposure preclude its use for screening the general population. This underscores the need for an inexpensive and minimally invasive method to identify individuals who may require additional CT screening to screen for the disease earlier and easier to treat, says lead researcher Leo L. Cheng. Ph.D., a biophysicist badociated with the departments of pathology and radiology of the MGH.

"You can not use computed tomography as a screening tool for every patient, or even for every patient at risk every year, so we try to develop biomarkers from blood samples that could be In addition to physical examinations, any suspicion of lung cancer would cause the patient to be scanned, "says Cheng.

With his co-principal investigator, David C. Christiani, MD, MPH, MD of the HGM's Department of Medicine, Cheng and other colleagues studied paired blood samples and tumor tissue collected at the time of surgery and searched for unique metabolomic markers high resolution magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), a sensitive technique for characterizing the chemical composition of tissues.

According to Cheng, although other research groups have used SRM to identify potential biomarkers of lung cancer in the serum, "the peculiarity of our study is that we have badociated patient samples obtained at the same time as the surgery. ".

The paired samples came from 42 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and 51 patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Investigators also examined blood samples from 29 healthy volunteers who served as witnesses. Patients included 58 with early stage (I) lung cancer and 35 with more advanced stage II, III or IV disease.

The experiments were aimed at determining whether blood and tumor tissue samples from the same patient had common features to identify the presence or absence of lung cancer, to differentiate the subtypes of cancer and cancer. confirm the diagnostic accuracy of a simple blood test.

The investigators identified specific profiles of metabolites common to both types of samples and showed that differences between the profiles could indicate whether a patient had CSC or an adenocarcinoma requiring different treatment. They also found that the profiles could distinguish between an early stage disease, which is often highly treatable, and later stages of the disease that require more aggressive or experimental treatments.

Importantly, the tests also determined whether samples came from patients who lived an average of 41 months after surgery or patients who lived more than 41 months. This discovery, if validated by new studies, could quickly identify patients at particularly high risk of premature death who could benefit from clinical trials of new drugs.

The ultimate goal of the study is to develop a blood test that can be included in a standard physical exam and indicate if a particular patient has suspected signs of lung cancer. Patients identified by the blood test would then be referred for a CT scan.