Protein panel-based screening tests have shown promising results for developing a new generation of screening tests for the early detection of cancer, a new study has found.
According to the study published in BMJ Oncology — a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the British Medical Association — a measurement of a limited set of plasma proteins could classify cancer samples from normal and differentiate different cancers.
In a proof-of-concept study, it was discovered that a panel of 10 sex-specific proteins has the capability to detect 18 distinct early-stage cancers, encompassing all major organs in the human body.
The authors of the study claimed “high accuracy” in detecting early-stage cancers using a novel proteome-based multi-cancer screening test.
Early detection of cancer is crucial for reducing the global burden of cancer, but effective screening tests for many cancers do not exist. Globally, cancer is responsible for one in six deaths with nearly 60% of these deaths caused by cancers for which no screening test exists, the researchers noted in the study.
The researchers suggest that these findings could initiate the development of a novel era of screening tests for the early detection of the disease.
HOW WAS THE STUDY CONDUCTED?
The researchers collected plasma samples from 440 individuals, healthy and diagnosed with 18 early-stage solid tumours.
Using proximity extension assay, they measured more than 3,000 high-abundance and low-abundance proteins in each sample. “Then, using a multi-step statistical approach, we identified a limited set of sex-specific proteins that could detect early-stage cancers and their tissue of origin with high accuracy,” the study said.
Our sex-specific cancer detection panels consisting of 10 proteins showed high accuracy for both males and females, researchers said.
Researchers measured more than 3,000 proteins strongly associated with cancer chemical pathways in each sample, using a technology deploying antibodies and a statistical algorithm in a two-step process.
THE FINDINGS
Individually, each specific protein exhibited only moderate accuracy in detecting early-stage disease. However, their collective accuracy significantly increased when integrated into a panel with other proteins. These proteins demonstrated the capability to identify stage I to stage III diseases across various cancer types, with particular effectiveness in detecting early-stage disease.
At stage I and at the specificity of 99%, the study claimed, the panels were able to identify 93% of cancers among males and 84% of cancers among females.
“Our sex-specific localisation panels consisted of 150 proteins and were able to identify the tissue of origin of most cancers in more than 80% of cases,” the study pointed out, adding that “the analysis of the plasma concentrations of proteins selected showed that almost all the proteins were in the low-concentration part of the human plasma proteome”,
Examination of the quantities of plasma proteins revealed that nearly all were present at exceptionally low levels. This underscores the significance of low-level proteins in detecting pre-cancerous and early-stage diseases, particularly before a tumour has exerted substantial systemic effects.
Comments
0 comment