LOS ANGELES, Dec. 10, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lung diseases affect an increasingly growing sector of the population. Almost 20 million Americans suffer from asthma. The disease may predispose sufferers to lung cancer, which strikes over a quarter million new victims each year. The increased risk of lung cancer among asthma sufferers who have never smoked supports a direct correlation between asthma and lung cancer. Additional genetic and epigenetic factors, poorly understood at present time, are also likely to be responsible for the increased incidence of lung pathologies. At present, there is no simple, reliable method of diagnosing pathologies of human lung tissues early in their development. Furthermore, there is no blood test available today which is capable of indicating the presence of particular lung tissue pathologies.
A new study conducted by the Cancer Prevention & Cure laboratory in San Antonio, TX, entitled "A Novel Panel of Serum Biomarkers Distinguishes Asthma from Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer," by Elzbieta Izbicka, Rober Streeper, Armando Diaz, David Campos, Thomas Long, Sung Baek, and Rhys Mussman, addresses these vital issues.
The purpose of the study was to identify panels of serum biomarkers that can detect and distinguish asthma from non-small cell lung cancer. The research team used two independent methods, multiplexed immunoassays and mass spectrometry, for biomarker discovery in a screen of nearly 800 serum specimens. The study has identified several novel panels of biomarkers (patent pending) that stratify and correctly classify the physiologic state of a subject with regard to non-small cell lung cancer and asthma.
The findings support a multi-marker strategy for the diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancers by measuring expression levels of groups of biomarkers to facilitate early detection of the disease through simple blood tests. The biomarkers can also be used to characterize disease progression, differentiate among the pathologies, and monitor patients' responses to various drug therapies. The study has also revealed surprisingly large qualitative and quantitative differences in biomarker expression patterns and levels in serum specimens from men and women. This discovery strongly warrants further investigation of gender-related differences in biomarkers for diverse human conditions.
About Cancer Prevention & Cure: Cancer Prevention & Cure (CPC) utilizes the most advanced analytical technologies for two principal purposes. First is the identification and characterization of patterns of biomolecules present in human tissues as signatures of disease. The first of these pattern recognition efforts has produced data on proteomic signatures of blood biomarkers (patent pending) that will be incorporated in the design of a new diagnostic kit for asthma and non-small cell lung cancer. The other area of focus is in the characterization of natural product drugs The CPC laboratory is equipped with a range of cutting edge equipment including a Thermo-Finnigan LTQ-FT high resolution mass spectrometer. Learn more at: www.cancerpreventioncure.com