A team of Japanese researchers has discovered two key proteins detectable in urine and associated with the development of cancer.
Identify the brain tumor through a simple urine analysis could favor the early diagnosis. Taking a significant step forward in this direction, a study, published in the journal of the American Chemical Society Nano and conducted by scientists from theNagoya University and ofUniversity of Tokyo, in Japan. A team led by Takao Yasui e Yoshinobu Babadiscovered two key proteinslinked to the presence of brain cancer and detectable, in fact, in the urine.
Researchers took urine samples from patients with brain malignancies and discovered two specific types of proteins, called CD31/CD63 and associated with the development of cancer. So they came up with a diagnostic device able to identify the presence of the target substances through urine analysis. This test could favor the possibility of early diagnosis of the tumor, increasing the chances of survival of patients.
“The liquid biopsy – underlines Yasui – can be performed through different types of body fluids. Blood tests can be quite invasive. Instead, urinalysis has many advantages, the first of which concerns the non-invasiveness of the test. Secondly, this method could facilitate the identification of the tumor before the development of symptoms”.
They add that by changing the diagnostic approach, it may be possible to identify specific membrane proteins or miRNAs related to other types of cancer. “Our platform – they conclude – could allow us to advance the analysis of the expression levels of specific membrane proteins in the urinary EVs of patients. This possibility represents a significant step forward in the early detection of different types of cancer.”
Nurse Times editorial team
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