New Tool Developed for Identifying Breast Cancer Tissue

Scientists from University of Luxembourg have identified a new effective biomarker which could be used to detect colorectal cancer. The study was published in British Journal of Cancer.

Despite progress made during the past decades, Colorectal Cancer(CRC) is still one of the most frequent and deadly cancers world-wide in both women and men. The primary cause of death is the development of distant metastases in organs such as liver and lungs. Strikingly, diagnosed in time, CRC can be cured in 9 out of 10 cases. Thus, it is highly important to identify more sensitive and specific CRC markers to strengthen the efficiency of early diagnosis as well as to improve therapeutic strategies.

Over the past years, some members of the family of suppressor of cytokine signaling(SOCS) proteins have emerged as potential tumor suppressors. In this study, researchers have examined the expression as well as the methylation status of Socs proteins in primary colon tumors, its precursor lesions and distant normal tissue. They used laser microdissection (LMD) to select for a highly pure population of epithelial cells in primary CRC tumors as well as in normal colon tissue.

The results point towards the involvement of SOCS2 and SOCS6 in the carcinogenesis of CRC and demonstrate their potential use as biomarkers.

A study from Brigham and Women's Hospital(Bwh) has successfully tested a new tool which could help doctors better distinguish between malignant breast and normal tissues to reduce the possibility of repeating surgery. Their study was published in PNAS.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed carcinoma in women in the United States and Western countries. Up to 40% of patients require an additional operation when traditional approaches are used. So distinguishing tumor from normal glandular breast tissue is an important step in breast-conserving surgery.

In This study, scientists have, for the first, demonstrated the application of desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging(DESI-MSI) for discrimination of breast cancer and delineation of tumor cancerous and adjacent normal tissue on the basis of the detection and specific spatial distributions of different lipid species. The cancer margins delineated by the molecular images from DESI-MSI were consistent with those margins obtained from histological staining.

This study proves the feasibility of classifying cancerous and normal breast tissues using ambient ionization MSI. It will allow the surgeon to access to this information in real time so as to make accurate intraoperative decisions quickly.

This work provides evidence for the idea that RNA-dependent processes contribute to the transmission of acquired traits in mammals. They underline the significance of sncRNAs in germ cells and highlight their sensitivity to early traumatic stress. The identification of several miRNAs and putative targets as mediators of these effects provide molecular markers of traumatic stress for potential use for the diagnostic of stress predisposition and stress-induced disorders in humans.

Numerologist Warda is hooked on OG-L002 fishing, collecting. And lastly her encouragement comes from socializing along with her companions.