this is an interesting technology, but i don't think it will derail BOCX. This test will be useful in monitoring the metastatic stage of cancers. ReCaf is present VERY early at the initial stages of cancer. This test will be used to detect established cancers and if they are spreading to other organs and regions of the body... No worries for ReCaf.... the test is effective in metastatic cancers and will only show-up when and if the cancer is spreading.
Detection of Blood-Borne Cancer Using Polymerase Chain Reaction for tNOX Messenger RNA: Abstract No. 5684
Cancer cells that circulate in the blood during metastasis carry a cancer-specific protein called tNOX that is generated from an alternate form of tNOX messenger RNA. Scientists now report they can detect this cancer-specific message with cutting-edge molecular technology, researchers from Purdue University reported at the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research today.
“Metastatic cancer cells produce the cancer-specific form of the tNOX messenger RNA, and the presence of the alternate message for tNOX in the blood signals the presence of circulating cancer cells in the blood,” said D. James Morre, Ph.D., the Dow Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
By monitoring the levels of a cancer-specific message in blood from 32 patients and 22 healthy volunteers, Morre and colleagues determined that all cancer patients in the study were positive for the presence of an alternate form of tNOX RNA message. None of the cancer-free volunteers or patients with non-cancer disease were detected with the marker.
“Despite the relative small sample size of this study, the assay seems highly correlated with metastatic disease and/or the potential for metastatic disease,” Morre said. He explained that tNOX appears essential to maintain unregulated growth in cancer cells, which is one of the hallmarks of cancer and bolsters the rationale for its use as diagnostic marker.
“tNOX and its constitutive counterpart, CNOX, fulfill an essential role in cell enlargement,” Morre said. “tNOX is translated from a cancer-specific splice variant messenger RNA that is missing exon 4. Both the exon-4-minus mRNA and the mature expressed tNOX protein are specific to cancer and remain undetected in cells or sera from healthy volunteers or patients with diseases other than cancer.”
By harvesting messenger RNA from circulating cells in the blood, Morre and his colleagues were able to amplify the message for tNOX using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The message was elevated in patients with cancer, but not in healthy individuals or those with non-cancerous diseases.
“Because cells containing the variant tNOX message are shed into the serum, it is a useful pan-cancer marker for clinical metastatic disease,” Morre said. “The test detects circulating cancer cells, and it does have the potential to become a standard screening assay especially for post-operative breast cancer patients to monitor the potential for metastatic spread.” Morre noted that if there was no evidence of metastatic spread post-surgery, patients and their physicians may have the opportunity to circumvent or at least delay the onset of certain chemotherapy strategies until the time that circulating cells appear.
Morre noted that cancer patients participating in the study included breast, lung and ovarian cancers.
“This assay is a promising tool for detecting circulating cancer cells in patients,” Morre said. “It has implications for monitoring tumor progression and therapy in clinical
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