Nov 29, 2005

New Cancer Detection Technique In The Horizon

Researchers from the University of Florida claim that they are a step closer to a technique to easily detect a wide variety of cancers before symptoms become apparent. This technique could enable doctors to search within extremely complex fluid or tissue samples to pinpoint biomarkers, proteins that signal that something is amiss.

Findings of the UF researchers are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and involve introducing molecularly engineered strands of DNA into cell cultures and observing whether they unleash a fluorescent burst after they adhere to cancer proteins.

"Even when the cancer biomarkers are in extremely low concentration we have been able to detect them," said Weihong Tan, a UF Research Foundation professor of chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a member of the UF Genetics Institute, the UF Shands Cancer Center and the McKnight Brain Institute. "This approach could help for early diagnosis of cancer, as well as for detecting residual cancer in patients after treatment."

It works by capitalizing on fluorescent molecules engineered into tiny strands of DNA or RNA. Known as aptamers, the strands act as molecular beacons, corresponding and readily binding to a sought-after substance such as cancer protein.

In this case, the target was platelet derived growth factor, or PDGF, a protein that regulates cell growth and division. Elevated PDGF levels have been linked to different forms of cancer, and have been found in patients with malignancies of the ovaries, kidneys, lung, pancreas and brain.

After the probe physically conforms to the PDGF, the molecule can be snapped on like a light switch to flash a fluorescent signal.


Janet      Return to Cancer Blog Main

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Janet      

Cancer
Cancer is a very common disease, approximately one out of every two American men and one out of every three American women will have some type of cancer at some point during the course of their life. Cancer is more common in the elderly and 77 percent of cancers occur in people above age 55 or older. Cancer is also common in children. Cancer incidence is said to have two peaks once during early childhood and then during late years in life. No age period is completely exempted from development of cancers. Some cancers occur predominantly in the elderly, other types occur in children, Cancer occurs in all ethnic races, however the cancer rates and rates of specific cancer types may vary from group to group. Late stages of cancer may be incurable in most cases, but with the advancement of medicine, more and more cancers are becoming curable.