美国Wistar研究所的研究人员最近发现血液中存在的免疫系统标记物，或许利用该标记物能够预测早期肺部肿瘤患者发生肺癌的可能性。这项研究发表在12月1日Cancer Research杂志上。或许有助于科学家开发一种简单的血液检测方法，用来诊断早期肺癌。
在这项研究中，宾夕法尼亚大学医学院和纽约大学医学院提供了2002年至2007年间肺癌患者的外周血(peripheral blood)样本。Wistar研究所在对这些样本分析基因表达模式。研究人员发现，利用一个29-“标签基因”(a 29-gene "signature")能够将137位非小细胞肺癌(NSCLC)患者和91位一般性肺病患者区别开，且正确率为86%。
研究人员在18名非小细胞肺癌在接受手术前收集了他们的外周血样本，并在这些患者手术清除肿瘤后2～5个月后再次收集他们的外周血，对这两个不同阶段的血液样本研究发现，其中有13名患者在接受手术前还存在着的肿瘤基因标签，手术后这些标签明显减少甚至完全消失。这项发现证实，机体发生肿瘤的信号能够传递给外周免疫系统，而这种信号能够通过对外周血的基因表达模式检测到。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Cancer Research, 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-1378
Gene Expression Profiles in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Can Distinguish Patients with Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer from Patients with Nonmalignant Lung Disease
Michael K. Showe1, Anil Vachani2, Andrew V. Kossenkov1, Malik Yousef1, Calen Nichols1, Elena V. Nikonova1, Celia Chang1, John Kucharczuk2, Bao Tran2, Elliot Wakeam2, Ting An Yie3, David Speicher1, William N. Rom3, Steven Albelda2 and Louise C. Showe1
1 The Wistar Institute; 2 Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and 3 Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York
Early diagnosis of lung cancer followed by surgery presently is the most effective treatment for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). An accurate, minimally invasive test that could detect early disease would permit timely intervention and potentially reduce mortality. Recent studies have shown that the peripheral blood can carry information related to the presence of disease, including prognostic information and information on therapeutic response. We have analyzed gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples including 137 patients with NSCLC tumors and 91 patient controls with nonmalignant lung conditions, including histologically diagnosed benign nodules. Subjects were primarily smokers and former smokers. We have identified a 29-gene signature that separates these two patient classes with 86% accuracy (91% sensitivity, 80% specificity). Accuracy in an independent validation set, including samples from a new location, was 78% (sensitivity of 76% and specificity of 82%). An analysis of this NSCLC gene signature in 18 NSCLCs taken presurgery, with matched samples from 2 to 5 months postsurgery, showed that in 78% of cases, the signature was reduced postsurgery and disappeared entirely in 33%. Our results show the feasibility of using peripheral blood gene expression signatures to identify early-stage NSCLC in at-risk populations.
