Brain tumors can be detected using simple urine/blood plasma test
A team of researchers at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute says scientists can detect brain tumors in patient urine or blood plasma.
The team, which has developed two tests to detect the presence of glioma (a type of brain or spine tumor) in urine or blood plasma, says the urine test is the first of its kind in the world.
Gliomas comprise 80% of all malignant brain tumors. They also account for about 30% of all brain and central nervous system tumors. An MRI scan, a CT Scan or a chest X-ray is performed to diagnose gliomas, according to Los Angeles-based nonprofit academic healthcare organization Cedars-Sinai.
The British team’s research, which was published in EMBO Molecular Medicine on Thursday, is in early stages and just a small number of patients were analyzed. However, the researchers say the results are promising.
“The researchers suggest that in the future, these tests could be used by GPs to monitor patients at high risk of brain tumours, which may be more convenient than having an MRI every three months, which is the standard method,” according to a press release on the University of Cambridge’s website.
The news release by the university added, “Blood tests for detecting different cancer types are a major focus of research for teams across the world, and there are some in use in the clinic. These tests are mainly based on finding mutated DNA, shed by tumour cells when they die, known as cell-free DNA (cfDNA).”
The blood-brain-barrier, however, has historically caused the detection of brain tumor cfDNA in the blood a difficult task. The barrier separates blood from CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) that surrounds the spinal cord and the brain, stopping the passage of cells and other particles like cfDNA.
The team of researchers was led by Dr. Richard Mair, who is based at the Cambridge cancer research institute and the University of Cambridge, and Dr. Florent Mouliere, who is based at the Rosenfeld Lab of the Cambridge Institute and at the Amsterdam UMC.
