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MicroRNAs circulating in blood show promise as biomarkers to detect pancreatic cancer
September 08, 2009HOUSTON - A blood test for small molecules abnormally expressed in pancreatic cancer may be a promising route to early detection of the disease, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the September edition of the journal Cancer Prevention Research.
The team's analysis of four microRNAs (miRNA) found in the blood plasma of pancreatic cancer patients is proof of principle to further develop a blood test for this evasive disease, said senior author Subrata Sen, Ph.D., associate professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Molecular Pathology.
"Increased expression of microRNAs is known to be involved with specific genetic pathways and processes responsible for the development of cancer-associated changes in cells," Sen said. "Detection of elevated levels of miRNAs in blood plasma of pancreatic cancer patients as informative biomarkers of disease appears to be a promising, novel approach for developing a minimally invasive assay for detecting this disease."
There is no accurate, noninvasive way to detect pancreatic cancer, the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Fewer than 5 percent of patients survive to five years.
MicroRNAs are single-stranded bits of RNA consisting of 18 to 24 nucleotides that regulate the messenger RNA (mRNA) expressed by genes to tell a cell's protein-making machinery what protein to make.
The four targeted microRNAs previously had been associated in varied ways with pancreatic cancer or with precancerous lesions. Expression of the four was analyzed in 28 patients with pancreatic cancer and 19 healthy people.
The four combined markers accurately identified 64 percent (sensitivity) of the pancreatic cancer cases and correctly identified 89 percent of those without disease (specificity). That degree of sensitivity and specificity are good for a pilot study but don't yet rise to the levels required for translation in the clinic, which would require investigating more circulating microRNAs in blood in a larger sample of persons representing different stages of the disease and healthy controls.
The study's small sample size, which compared only the extremes of pancreatic cancer or the complete absence of the disease, is a limitation, but the results justify continued development of this strategy, Sen said.
One of the miRNAs in the study is overexpressed in precursor lesions that can lead to full pancreatic cancer. "The fact that a microRNA reported to be overexpressed in pre-invasive pancreatic cancer could be detected in blood plasma from pancreatic cancer patients raises the possibility that a blood test for detecting pre-invasive pancreatic cancer may become a reality," Sen said.
Marker miRNAs used in the study were miR-21, miR-210, miR-155 and miR-196a.
Sen and colleagues are working with the Early Detection Research Network of the National Cancer Institute to develop studies with larger sample sizes that are designed to test miRNA markers associated with different grades and stages of the disease.
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
There is no accurate, noninvasive way to detect pancreatic cancer, the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Fewer than 5 percent of patients survive to five years.
MicroRNAs are single-stranded bits of RNA consisting of 18 to 24 nucleotides that regulate the messenger RNA (mRNA) expressed by genes to tell a cell's protein-making machinery what protein to make.
The four targeted microRNAs previously had been associated in varied ways with pancreatic cancer or with precancerous lesions. Expression of the four was analyzed in 28 patients with pancreatic cancer and 19 healthy people.
The four combined markers accurately identified 64 percent (sensitivity) of the pancreatic cancer cases and correctly identified 89 percent of those without disease (specificity). That degree of sensitivity and specificity are good for a pilot study but don't yet rise to the levels required for translation in the clinic, which would require investigating more circulating microRNAs in blood in a larger sample of persons representing different stages of the disease and healthy controls.
The study's small sample size, which compared only the extremes of pancreatic cancer or the complete absence of the disease, is a limitation, but the results justify continued development of this strategy, Sen said.
One of the miRNAs in the study is overexpressed in precursor lesions that can lead to full pancreatic cancer. "The fact that a microRNA reported to be overexpressed in pre-invasive pancreatic cancer could be detected in blood plasma from pancreatic cancer patients raises the possibility that a blood test for detecting pre-invasive pancreatic cancer may become a reality," Sen said.
Marker miRNAs used in the study were miR-21, miR-210, miR-155 and miR-196a.
Sen and colleagues are working with the Early Detection Research Network of the National Cancer Institute to develop studies with larger sample sizes that are designed to test miRNA markers associated with different grades and stages of the disease.
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
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M. D. Anderson examines use of toad venom in cancer treatment
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Pancreatic cancer: Researchers find drug that reverses resistance to chemotherapy
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Endothelin-1 inhibitors in chronic pancreatitis
Fibrosis is a key feature of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. The extensive deposition of extracellular matrix proteins fosters the development of an exocrine and endocrine organ insufficiency, and accelerates progression of the tumour.
Autoimmune response can induce pancreatic tumor rejection
Immune responses are capable of killing tumors before they can be directed toward normal body tissue, according to new scientific findings published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Blood-flow metabolism mismatch predicts pancreatic tumor aggressiveness
Researchers from Turku, Finland, have identified a blood-flow glucose consumption mismatch that predicted pancreatic tumor aggressiveness, according to results of a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Taking the Needle's Sting Out of Diabetes
Found in 30% of all human cancer tumors, the Ras protein literally "drives cells crazy," says Prof. Yoel Kloog, the dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University. Prof. Kloog was the first in the world to develop an effective anti-Ras drug against pancreatic cancer, currently in clinical trials.
Heavy drinkers face significantly increased cancer risk
Heavy drinkers of beer and spirits face a much higher risk of developing cancer than the population at large, says a group of Montreal epidemiologists and cancer researchers.
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