According to the National Cancer Institute, 222,520 individuals were diagnosed with Lung cancer in 2010 in the United States. 157,300 people lost their lives owing to this dreadful disease.
The technology available today is not sufficient to diagnose the ailment early. However, Korean researchers have discovered a serum protein which might change the situation for good. the results of the study are published are in the American Cancer Society’s Journal of Proteome Research in March 2011.
What the Research on Serum Protein Involved?
- The biggest challenge with lung cancer is that it can spread to fresh locations of the body very easily.
- The symptoms have the tendency to remain asymptomatic or without any apparent signs in the initial stages.
- It is not surprising to know that symptoms of lung cancer are revealed accidentally in many cases.
- The researchers of the present study tried to find proteins in the blood which might serve as an indicator for the presence of this cancer.
- As a part of the study, they searched for the novel protein in the patients of adenocarcinoma, a sub type of lung cancer which constitutes for 1 in 3 cases.
- Any advancement in the diagnosis of this lung cancer type was significant because it is one of the most aggressive forms of the disease which affects this organ especially in women.
- The experts discovered a protein called serum amyloid a (SAA) in the liquid portion of the blood (serum) in the tissues of lung adenocarcinoma patients.
- The study found that the levels of this protein are uniquely high in the patients of lung cancers in comparison to others forms of cancers or ailments of the lungs.
Conclusion: According to the researchers, their work on serum protein has provided a novel diagnostic tool for lung cancer. further efforts should be focused on making this new technique available in regular cancer diagnostic centers.