Test May Detect Mesothelioma

By Alan Jogja

Malignant mesothelioma was recorded has increased worldwide. Like many cancers, early detection is the key to survival and a better quality of life for patients. Now, a group of Japanese researchers pave the way for laboratory tests can help doctors identify the disease - and begin aggressive treatment - previously.

Writing in the journal, Modern Pathology, the researchers explain how a protein called CD146 can serve as a biomarker for mesothelioma. protein has been shown to be present in patients with advanced malignant melanoma, prostate cancer and ovarian cancer. Now, for the first time, researchers also identified the presence in the lung fluid of mesothelioma patients.

The research team tested the lung fluid of 51 patients, 23 had malignant mesothelioma and 28 had benign lung condition called reactive mesothelium. Although the patients experienced the same symptoms and all had fluid build-up, only patients with malignant mesothelioma presence of CD146 positive. The researchers reported that the protein was undetectable in all cases of reactive mesothelium. They can use CD146 to identify and confirm 90 percent of patients with malignant mesothelioma.

Caused exclusively by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma is very difficult to diagnose. Its symptoms, which can include shortness of breath and cough, can mimic other diseases and even CT scans are often not definitive. As a result, some cases of mesothelioma are not identified until the disease is in advanced stage and treatment options are limited. Japanese researchers wrote "We propose that CD146 is a sensitive and specific immunocytochemical marker allowing differential diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma from reactive mesothelium."

According to the World Health Organization Read More

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