Cancer diagnoses traditionally require invasive or labor-intensive procedures such as tissue biopsies. Now, research reveals a method that uses pulsed infrared light to identify molecular profiles in blood plasma that could indicate the presence of certain common cancers.
Cancer diagnoses traditionally require invasive or labor-intensive procedures such as tissue biopsies. Now, research reveals a method that uses pulsed infrared light to identify molecular profiles in blood plasma that could indicate the presence of certain common cancers.
In this proof-of-concept study, blood plasma from more than 2,000 people was analyzed to link molecular patterns to lung cancer, extrapolating a potential 'cancer fingerprint.'reveals a method that uses pulsed infrared light to identify molecular profiles in blood plasma that could indicate the presence of certain common cancers. In this proof-of-concept study, blood plasma from more than 2,000 people was analyzed to link molecular patterns to lung cancer, extrapolating a potential"cancer fingerprint." Plasma is the liquid portion of blood, depleted of any cells. It carries diverse molecules such as proteins, metabolites, lipids and salts throughout the body. Some molecules carried by blood plasma indicate potential health conditions. For example, unusually high levels of prostate-specific antigen are used to screen for prostate cancer. Theoretically, a medical test that measures a broad range of molecules could identify a pattern specific to different cancers, leading to quicker diagnoses and reduced costs. To look for telltale chemical patterns of cancer, Mihaela Žigman and colleagues tested a technique called electric-field molecular fingerprinting that uses pulsed infrared light to profile complex molecular mixtures in blood plasma. First, the researchers used the electric-field molecular fingerprinting technique to send ultra-short bursts of infrared light through plasma. They analyzed samples from 2,533 study participants, including people with lung, prostate, breast or bladder cancer and those without cancer. For each sample, they recorded the pattern of light emitted by the molecular mixtures in the plasma -- called an"infrared molecular fingerprint." Using these complex patterns from individuals with and without cancer, the researchers taught a machine learning model to identify molecular signatures associated with the four types of cancer. The computer model was tested on a separate subset of participants' samples to see how well the model could perform on unseen test data. The analytical technique demonstrated a convincing level of accuracy in detecting lung cancer-specific infrared signatures and differentiating them from control samples obtained from individuals without cancer. However, the computer model's performance had lower success rates detecting the other three cancers. In the future, the researchers aim to expand and test the approach to identify additional cancer types and other health conditions. "Laser-based infrared molecular fingerprinting detects cancer, demonstrating its potential for clinical diagnostics," Žigman says."With further technological developments and independent validation in sufficiently powered clinical studies, it could establish generalizable applications and translate into clinical practice -- advancing the way we diagnose and screen for cancer today."Kosmas V. Kepesidis, Philip Jacob, Wolfgang Schweinberger, Marinus Huber, Nico Feiler, Frank Fleischmann, Michael Trubetskov, Liudmila Voronina, Jacqueline Aschauer, Tarek Eissa, Lea Gigou, Patrik Karandušovsky, Ioachim Pupeza, Alexander Weigel, Abdallah Azzeer, Christian G. Stief, Michael Chaloupka, Niels Reinmuth, Jürgen Behr, Thomas Kolben, Nadia Harbeck, Maximilian Reiser, Ferenc Krausz, Mihaela Žigman. Most cancer diagnostic techniques rely on uncomfortable and invasive procedures, such as biopsies, endoscopies or mammograms. Blood samples could be a less unpleasant option, though only a few forms ... A new study finds that convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients can dramatically improve likelihood of survival among blood cancer patients hospitalized with the virus. The therapy ... A new advanced computing technique using routine medical scans to enable doctors to take fewer, more accurate tumor biopsies, has been developed by cancer researchers. This is an important step ... Plasma medicine is an emerging field, as plasmas show promise for use in a wide range of therapies from wound healing to cancer treatment, and plasma jets are the main plasma sources typically used ...
Breast Cancer Cancer Prostate Cancer Optics Physics Medical Technology Biochemistry
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