A novel method of modeling could allow scientists to screen for cancer at an early stage using a blood biomarker, according to an article released on August 19, 2008 in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine.
By early screening for cancer, there is enormous potential for an increased quality of life in many types of cancers. Many cancers, if caught early enough, can be curable by conventional methods if they are detected at an early stage. Presently, these technologies have moved towards better imaging or towards better detection of specific chemicals in the blood, known as biomarkers. Further confirmation is usually made subsequently by a more invasive biopsy procedure.
Sanjiv Gambhir of Stanford University Medical Center and colleagues set out to determine what the lowest detectable levels are for specific biomarkers in determining tumor presence. To do this they determined various typical parameters of a potential cancer patient, including the size and density of a tumor, approximate size of a patient, and the sensitivity and specificity of detection techniques. They modeled the piece as a single compartment.
They determined that the smallest tumors that might be detected through this method as small as several hundred cubic millimeters but perhaps as large as one million cubic millimeters. In comparison to the sizes detected using the same biomarkers clinically, these are similar, indicating that the model could describe the system in a relevant fashion.
Cancer Screening: A Mathematical Model Relating Secreted Blood Biomarker Levels to Tumor Sizes
Amelie M. Lutz, Juergen K. Willmann, Frank V. Cochran, Pritha Ray, Sanjiv S. Gambhir
PLoS Med 5(8): e170.
doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050170
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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney