Scientists have identified cancer cell fingerprints in the blood that could one day help doctors diagnose a range of children’s cancers faster and more accurately.
Researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, have found unique molecular fingerprints for 11 types of children’s tumours, which could be used to develop blood tests to diagnose the cancers.
This may eventually lead to a quicker, more accurate way to diagnose tumours, and could also reduce the need for children to undergo surgery to get a diagnosis one day.
The researchers uncovered the fingerprints left by the tumours by analysing blood samples from children when they were diagnosed with cancer.
They were looking for molecules that turn genes on and off, called microRNAs, to find common changes linked to different tumours.
In particular they found a very specific fingerprint which identifies different types of neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer which develops from a type of nerve cell.
Lead researchers Dr Matthew Murray and Professor Nicholas Coleman, both from the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital said the research suggested that different types of tumour could be identified using a blood test which recognises the unique fingerprints produced by tumours.
“We hope that this early research could eventually lead to the development of non-invasive tests which are faster, more accurate and gentler, transforming the way we make a cancer diagnosis in the future,” said Murray.
“Using a blood test instead of surgery to remove a tumour sample could improve diagnosis - such that results take a matter of hours rather than days or weeks.
“However, before such a test can be incorporated into clinical practice, it will now be important for these findings to be validated in other, larger independent studies,” Murray said.
