A Drop Of Blood Tells The Whole Story

Stomach cancer is the fifth-most common cancer in Taiwan. A team of scientists at National Taiwan University Hospital have improved our abilities to detect stomach cancer earlier. After years of hard work, they discovered a toxic factor "GroES" that causes stomach cancer. In the future, a simple blood test will give a positive or negative result for the presence of this substance, allowing immediate access to endoscopic examinations for patients for whom this is indicated. In this way, cancers can be detected and treated earlier.

World Health Organization statistics show that stomach cancer attacks some 800,000 people worldwide each year. The cancer usually attacks people in their 50s and 60s, and is the most frequently-occurring cancerous tumor type. Since the disease shows no symptoms in its early stages, commonly the cancer is already in Stage III before it is detected. Consequently, Zhou Lupin, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at National Taiwan University, is now heading up a team that is using immunological analysis to detect the cancer-causing "GroES" factor. The test has already achieved a 65 percent accuracy rate.

Zhou says that if the human body is infected with GroES, it produces antibodies to the factor. This can cause chronic inflammation of the stomach, causing the endothelial cells to rupture and proliferate. This long-term inflammation can also cause stomach cancer. As a result, in the future it will be necessary only to test for the presence of "GroES" to identify patients in a high-risk group for developing stomach cancer. Patients who test positive can be counseled to have an endoscopic examination as soon as possible, and if cancer is found, early therapy can begin.

NTU Hospital resident Wu Mingxian of the Department of Internal Medicine says that about 45 percent of adults in Taiwan are infected with GroES. Of these, between 10 and 15 percent will develop ulcers, and 1 percent will show stomach cancer. Traditional tests for GroES and blood drawing can detect the presence of GroES, but cannot further screen for those at higher risk for cancer.

Zhou suggests that if all patients who turn up a positive result for the older GroES test should have the new screening test done in the future.

The NTU research team emphasizes that this new technology is a boon for patients, and is also a world-class research result on the cutting edge of medicine. The results have already been reported in the April and August editions of "Molecular and Cellular Proteins," an international journal. Right now, patent applications are underway in the US, Japan and Taiwan, in hopes of being able to bring the technology to the street as soon as possible. Once a test kit is developed, a single drop of blood will be enough to quickly determine whether a person is at high risk for stomach cancer.


Posted by: Sean    Source