New Non-Invasive Lung Cancer Test Screens Mucus

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lung cancer, screening

Scientists in the US and China have developed the first relatively accurate lung cancer screening test based on a mucus sample. Mucus from the lungs is known as sputum, and is often used to diagnose infections. The test currently screens for 3 different microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers associated with lung cancers.

Lung cancers cause, by far, the most cancer deaths of any other type of cancer…more than colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. Most, but not all, lung cancer patients and deaths are smokers. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2014 there were approximately 160,000 deaths from lung cancer in the U.S. alone. About 85% of lung cancers are non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC).

As with most cancers, early detection sometimes leads to long term survival, so smokers are often regularly screened for signs of lung cancer. Today most lung cancer screening is achieved through low-dose CT scans of the chest, which, while relatively accurate and non-invasive, are also expensive. CT scans also lead to overdiagnosis by highlighting benign nodules.

The researchers evaluated the use of 13 different miRNA biomarkers associated with lung cancer and found 3 to be most reliable. In several hundred patients with known pathology, the sputum screening test was accurate in just over 80% of cases. This level of accuracy is not high enough on which to base important clinical decisions, but combined with CT scans the test may help avoid over diagnosis, or by itself could provide an early rationale for further screening. With further refining, additional miRNA biomarkers may be added to the assay to improve its accuracy.

The research appeared in the January 15 edition of the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

References:

• http://www.cancer.org/cancer/lungcancer-non-smallcell/detailedguide/non-small-cell-lung-cancer-key-statistics
• http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/21/2/484.abstract

Novel MicroVAX Cancer Vaccine Expected to Report Next Week

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breast, cancer, colorectal, immunotherapy, lung cancer, ovarian, prostate cancer

Next week researchers are scheduled on January 21, 2015, to provide an update on a novel cancer treatment undergoing human trials in Singapore. The MicroVAX immunotherapy Phase I trial began in May, 2014, recruiting cancer patients with metastatic or recurrent epithelial cancers of the lung, breast, ovary, prostate or colon.

This single-site, open label, dose escalation trial is unique in many ways: partly because it’s open to so many different types of cancer patients, both men and women, but also because of the methods used in the immunotherapy. Ultimately, the goal of MicroVAX is to be used for both the prevention and treatment of epithelial cancers. In mouse models the immunotherapy has proven synergistic with chemotherapy.

The MicroVAX treatment uses a recombinant adenovirus as a vehicle, or vector, to deliver the targeting antigen MUC-1 with the immune system stimulating CD40 ligand (CD40L). When CD40L binds with its CD40 protein on antigen presenting cells, an immune response is activated. Through several, simple, subcutaneous injections, it is hoped this vaccine will stimulate or prime the patient’s immune system to attack the cancer. MUC-1 overexpression is a hallmark of late stage epithelial cancers.

Adenoviruses have become popular in gene therapy because of their resilience in a variety of environments, minimal adverse side-effects, and ability to host targeting proteins. In 2005, China approved the world’s first oncolytic adenovirus therapy, H101, for the treatment of cancer in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients.

According to a report in FierceBiotech, an invitation to the Jan. 21 update press conference says the trial “so far shows promising results.”

The trial is being jointly overseen by the US FDA and Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority, and is sponsored by the Singapore Clinical Research Institute. It’s recruiting patients through the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), which treats almost 70% of cancer cases in Singapore.

References:

• http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/singapore-detail-trial-microvax-novel-cancer-vaccine/2015-01-16
• http://www.nccs.com.sg/Newsroom/MediaReleases/2014MediaReleases/Pages/12Aug2014.aspx
• https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02140996
• http://www.cancer.gov/drugdictionary?cdrid=599246
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20596057
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3185754/

Altitude Protects Against Lung Cancer

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altitude, cancer, elevation, lung cancer, oxygen

Two American researchers published data in late 2014 investigating the link between altitude and lung cancer. For over 40 years, scientists have been trying to figure out why living at higher elevations protects from lung cancer.

Living at high altitudes may provide modest protection from lung cancer

With an impressive look at US lung cancer incidence data county by county, Kamen Simeonov and Daniel Himmelstein theorize in the open journal PeerJ that lack of oxygen at higher altitudes has an inverse correlation with lung cancer incidence. For every 1000 meter rise (3281 feet) in elevation, the incidence decreased approximately 12.7%, or by 7.23 cases per 100,000.

There are 4 types of cancer in the United States which exceed 100,000 new cases per year: prostate, breast, colorectal, and lung. Lung cancer carries the worst prognosis in general. Most lung cancer cases stem from smokers, but 10-15% of incidences begin in non-smokers. Aside from smoking, the researchers discovered, elevation is the second largest predictor of lung cancer incidence.

Simeonov and Himmelstein believe higher elevation has a protective effect because of the decrease in atmospheric oxygen. While this seems counter-intuitive, oxygen has been shown to generate intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) which damage cells and can lead to cancer. Such oxidative DNA damage is most prominent in the lungs, where oxygen reacts directly with tissue. Other possible causes of the elevation correlation, including increased sun exposure at higher altitudes, were ruled out.

References:
• https://peerj.com/articles/705/
• http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/want-avoid-lung-cancer-live-4972561