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Testing For Cancer Using Body
Fluid
Genetic testing of bodily fluids such as urine and saliva
may one day reduce the need for biopsies to detect cancer.
A research group led by Dr. David Sidransky at Johns
Hopkins University finds that urine, saliva and lung fluids display changes in genetic
material that may indicate various cancers. They say it can detect cancers of the lung,
bladder, head and neck or lungs.
Most cancer-related mutations have been found in the DNA
located at the cell's nucleus. However, because every cell contains numerous copies of
DNA, but only two copies of DNA in the nucleus, the researchers hypothesized that
mutations would be easier to spot in body fluids.
Dr. Sidransky's group examined tissue from the biopsy
samples of 41 tumors. Twenty-one of these samples had DNA mutations that were not present
in the patients' normal blood cells. They then sampled body fluids from some of the
patients with lung, head and neck or bladder cancer. In most of these cases, they were
able to detect the same mutations found in the tissue specimens.
Testing urine, saliva and lung fluid is already standard
practice in detecting cancers. Researchers hope that refining this method may provide them
with greater accuracy.
"Our next goal will be to develop faster automated
versions of this test and to examine other types of tumors for mutations," says Dr.
Sidransky. |
