Stomach cancer is hard to detect. It has no symptoms in its early stages, and there is no effective screening to detect its presence. So early detection and early treatment for this disease -- that attacks 800,000 people worldwide -- are hard to come by. In Taiwan, stomach cancer is the fifth most common cancer and the focus of study for researchers working to devise a method for detecting stomach cancer in its infancy.A team of researchers at National Taiwan University Hospital have discovered a toxic factor -- GroES -- that causes stomach cancer. And they have discovered that a simple blood test will show either a positive or negative result for this substance, leading to immediate endoscopic exams for patients who may be at risk for stomach cancer. The test to identify GroES has already achieved a 65 percent accuracy rate.
Apparently, if the human body is infected with GroES, it produces antibodies to the factor and can cause chronic inflammation of the stomach, causing cells to rupture and proliferate. Long-term inflammation can cause stomach cancer. Researchers say about 45 percent of adults in Taiwan are infected with GroES -- and one percent will go on to develop stomach cancer.
Right now, patent applications are underway in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. Once a kit is developed, a single drop of blood will be all it takes to determine the risk for stomach cancer.
1. Below is a link to the abstract of the original article. Frankly, this is very interesting. From the abstract, let me try to clarify this post:
1. Stomach cancer is caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (HP). This bug also causes gastritis and stomach ulcers.
2. Not all HP are bad. Therefore, researchers are looking for a test that separates bad HP from good HP.
3.This team from Taiwan looked at antibodies in the blood of patients with an HP infection, comparing those with cancer with those without. They identified several interesting bacterial proteins.
4.The most promising is called GroES. 64% of cancer patients had antibodies to GroES, compared to 31% to 36% without cancer.
5. This GroES protein from HP is known since at least 1995. But this is the first time that it is accused of causing cancer.
6. The authors propose to use this blood test as cheap screening for gastric cancer. If the test is positive, further investigation (gastroscopy and biopsy) is recommended.
7. It is much too soon to ask this test from your doctor. First, this observation needs to be repeated by other teams. When more numbers are available, a benefit-to-risk calculation can be made and, if it looks good, the test proposed as screening for stomach cancer.
8. Stomach cancer is uncommon in Western countries, much more common in Africa and Asia. I think such a screening test will be more useful there than here.
EM,in Canada
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16769709&query_hl=4&itool=pubmed_docsum
Posted at 2:44PM on Sep 22nd 2006 by EM