Cell: Liquid biopsy breaks again! New biomarkers can diagnose a wide range of cancers at an early stage.

Cell, a leading academic journal, recently published a new study online on liquid biopsies, opening up potentially new approaches to early cancer diagnosis.
The team from memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and the Weill Cornell Medical Institute reported that extracellular vesicles and particles released by tumors and immune cells carry reliable biomarkers that can be used for cancer detection and to determine the type of cancer.
" small tube of blood contains billions of EVPs, which means that cancer patients have a large number of cancer-related EVPs available for clinicians to diagnose.
David Lyden, co-author of the study, said: "It's very important to know what's going on.
cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, claiming countless lives every year.
many cancer scientists hope to make accurate diagnoses at an early stage in cancer patients, helping them win treatment time.
, such a test should be simple and convenient to avoid pain.
"liquid biopsy" technology came into being.
as the name suggests, such techniques want to detect cancer and monitor disease progression by examining various body fluids.
, the most common form of liquid biopsy is the detection and analysis of DNA released into the blood by cancer cells.
use of these technologies for early cancer screening is still in the development and clinical validation phase.
new study is a different approach, focusing not on analyzing DNA fragments, but on examining the various proteins contained in EVP.
EVP is a small particle secreted by cells, the size of only nanoscale.
they are like express parcels, with membranes inside that can contain active molecules such as RNA, DNA, proteins, metabolites and lipids.
these small packages can mediate intercellular signaling, regulate substring tissue, and even regulate inflammation and immune response, as well as cross barriers such as the blood-brain barrier and be "swallowed" into cells with a high degree of specificity.
Lyden's team found that tumors also release EVP during growth and metastasis, and in this way inform other parts of the body to prepare for cancer cells.
, cancer information can theoretically be inferred by examining the contents of different EVPs.
study, scientists tested the initial idea.
they collected more than 400 samples of human tissue, blood and other body fluids, covering 18 different types of cancer, such as breast, colon, lung, pancreatic, etc., and included different stages of cancer, including early stages, as well as health samples as a control.
then analyzed the proteins in EVP using a proteomics method based on mass spectrometrology.
researchers first compared the EVP proteomics of tumors and neighboring tissues in tissue samples to determine which EVP proteins could be used as cancer diagnostic markers.
use these characteristic proteins to distinguish between tumors and normal tissues, which can achieve 95% sensitivity and 94% specificity.
, of course, to do a liquid biopsy, blood is one of the most convenient samples for testing.
, the researchers then further identified the unique tumor-related EVP protein in the plasma of cancer patients by matching EVP from tissue samples and plasma.
applied machine learning classification, the researchers matched specific proteins in plasma EVP, such as immunoglobulin, to cancer types.
that this method can detect cancer sensitivity of up to 95%, specificity up to 90%.
it is worth noting that for some diagnoses, "tumors with unknown origin", these tumors can also be classified based on the characteristic proteins carried by the EVP in the plasma.
, although CT and MRI scans are still needed to confirm the location of the tumor, blood tests can be used to determine if there is cancer, the researchers said.
the future, the team hopes to validate the new approach in more clinical samples. Dr. William Jarnagin, co-author of the
study, points out that there are some cancers that are not yet screenable and early detection, such as liver and pancreatic cancers, and that new tests may help improve prognosis by allowing patients to treat them early.
study is a proof of concept, and we have a lot of work to do before we can use it as a screening tool," he said.
but it would be great if we could finally apply this method to detect cancer before the patient develops symptoms.
hope that in the near future, cancer detection can be as easy as blood tests, early detection, early treatment, cancer smothered in the bud.
that time, we will no longer regret life because we did not find out the cancer of our loved ones in time.
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