| | | | | |

Mesothelioma Biomarker Test May Be Diagnostic Alternative for Frail Patients

ByAlex Strauss

A set of proteins found in the lung fluid of people with malignant pleural mesothelioma may offer a safer way to diagnose the asbestos cancer in frail or elderly patients.

Mesothelioma is an extremely difficult cancer to diagnose. Accurate diagnosis usually requires a combination of tests including a physical exam, a thorough work history (including possible asbestos exposure), blood or lung fluid tests, imaging scans, and a biopsy.

But not all mesothelioma patients are able to tolerate an invasive procedure such as a thoracoscopy to obtain a tissue sample. For these patients especially, an accurate blood or lung fluid test could be lifesaving.

Protein Biomarkers for Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Researchers in Japan recently evaluated the diagnostic value of two types of protein biomarkers by following the cases of 240 patients who came to the Hyogo Prefectural Amagasaki General Medical Center with suspected pleural mesothelioma between September 2014 and August 2016.

The two types of markers that were the focus of the study were soluble mesothelin-related peptide (SMRP) and cytokeratin 19 fragment/carcinoembryonic antigen (CYFRA 21-1/CEA). Both can be found in pleural effusion (lung fluid), which often builds up around the lungs of mesothelioma patients and those with other types of cancer.

The researchers compared the diagnostic accuracy of the two tests to each other, in combination, and with the addition of a CT scan.

Identifying Mesothelioma and Ruling it Out

When compared to each other as a way to help diagnose mesothelioma, the two types of biomarkers brought different things to the table. SMRP was much better at ruling out pleural mesothelioma (specificity) than it was at distinguishing it from other cancers (sensitivity). CYFRA 21-1/CEA, on the other hand, was much better at accurately identifying mesothelioma but not as good at ruling it out.

However, when the two proteins were used in combination, their ability to both accurate identify and rule out malignant pleural mesothelioma jumped significantly.

“The sensitivity and specificity of SMRP combined with the CYFRA 21-1/CEA ratio were 93.8% and 64.9%,” writes researcher Takehiro Otoshi in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Interestingly, the sensitivity of the tests did not change when they were used in combination with CT scanning.

The report concludes, “Combination of these biomarkers helped to rule out malignant pleural mesothelioma effectively among patients at high risk of suffering MPM and would be valuable especially for old frail patients who have difficulty in undergoing invasive procedures such as thoracoscopy.”

Malignant mesothelioma is the most deadly of a group of conditions caused by exposure to asbestos. Most people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma worked in an asbestos industry at some point in their past. While treatment options for mesothelioma are improving, scientists have not found a cure.

Source:

Otoshi, T, “Pleural effusion biomarkers and computed tomography findings in diagnosing malignant pleural mesothelioma: A retrospective study in a single center”, October 2, 2017, PLoS One, eCollection 2017

Similar Posts

  • |

    Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland

    ByAlex Strauss

    A study in Ireland confirms that it can take many years for a ban on asbestos to have a measurable impact on a country’s rates of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is the most serious of a list of diseases – including lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, and others – linked with exposure to asbestos dust. Affecting the linings around the lungs and other organs, mesothelioma is often resistant to most cancer treatments and may be fatal within a year of diagnosis. According to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Ireland is one of 55 countries that have enacted some type of asbestos ban. However, although Ireland banned asbestos in 2000, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology shows that incidence of the…

  • |

    Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma

    ByAlex Strauss

    Australia’s Cancer Council is trying to educate home renovators about their risk for mesothelioma with a new e-learning course. Australia has one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma in the world, largely because of several asbestos mining operations that were once located there. Although asbestos has been banned from building products in Australia since 1989, asbestos-linked diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis continue to pose a serious health concern. While mesothelioma has traditionally occurred among people exposed to asbestos on the job, Australia is now bracing for another “wave” of mesothelioma victims among homeowners who encounter asbestos while doing their own renovation projects. Cancer Council Australia has launched “kNOw asbestos in your home” in an effort to…

  • |

    Ape Virus Shrinks Mesothelioma Tumors in Lab

    ByAlex Strauss

    A virus that causes leukemia in gibbon apes may have the power to help fight malignant mesothelioma in people. Gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV) has been tested for years as a viral vector, a carrier of therapeutic genetic information, in the treatment of various human illnesses, including cancer. A new study in Japan compared GALV with a leukemia virus derived from mice to see which carrier communicated most efficiently with mesothelioma cells. While both types of viruses replicated in most of the mesothelioma cell lines tested, the mouse-derived virus was not effective in a mesothelioma cell line called ACC-MESO-1. In this cell line, only the GALV spread efficiently both in culture and in mice that had been given human mesothelioma…

  • | | |

    Mesothelioma Nurses Ready for New Cases in Australia

    ByAlex Strauss

    Australia is bracing for an expected new wave of mesothelioma cases in the next decade and the Lung Foundation of Australia is taking action now to get ready. The Foundation has paid for ten nurses from around the country to receive specialized training in helping patients and families cope with mesothelioma. The nurses, who have recently completed the training, are now equipped to lead treatment planning for these complex cancer patients and to help other nurses do the same. Pleural mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer that occurs in the lining around the lungs. It is caused by exposure to asbestos dust, a toxin that was once alarmingly prevalent in Australia where it was mined and heavily used in construction. Because…

  • |

    Mesothelioma Blood Test May Be Possible

    ByAlex Strauss

    An international team of researchers is studying the proteins found on the surface of cancer cells in an effort to improve mesothelioma diagnosis. The team, made up of scientists from the US, Switzerland, Italy and Chile, has just published their findings on a new kind of test to identify protein-derived mesothelioma biomarkers in blood serum. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the membranes around organs. Because the most common mesothelioma biomarker, mesothelin, is also overproduced by other kinds of cancer cells, it has only limited diagnostic value. A test to identify a set of proteins produced specifically by mesothelioma cells could greatly improve diagnostic accuracy. Led by Ferdinando Cerciello and Bernd Wollscheid of the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology in…

  • | |

    Spanish Mesothelioma Deaths Likely to Continue for Decades

    ByAlex Strauss

    New research in Spain suggests that mesothelioma deaths will continue in the country until the “last surviving member” of the group of people exposed to occupational asbestos succumbs to the disease. Like many countries, Spain used asbestos heavily in the first half of the 20th century, especially in construction, where the mineral was prized for its durability, low cost, and resistance to fire and corrosion.  Asbestos was banned in Spain in 2002. Observing that more than 2.5 million metric tons of asbestos were imported into Spain from 1906 to 2002, researchers say deaths from mesothelioma have risen steadily. Between 1976 and 1980, a total of 491 Spanish people died of mesothelioma. By the 5-year period from 2006 to 2010, that…