Prevent cancer
Blood test accurately predicts high and low risk of liver cancer
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
A simple test will help prevent the development of a tumor for people with high risks, and others will worry less about cancer and undergo screening less often, even if they have chronic liver disease.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is asymptomatic and increases the risk of cancer by 17 times. Most often, the disease affects obese patients, but it often develops in people without excess weight. To prevent cancer in patients with NAFLD, scientists have developed a blood test that predicts high and low risk by the level of expression of certain genes, writes Science Daily.
Scientists analyzed data from 409 patients with NAFLD and identified a set of 133 genes with abnormal activity. Depending on the severity of these genes, participants were assigned to a group of high or low risk of liver cancer. After 15 years, 22.7% of participants in the high-risk group were diagnosed with liver cancer, while there was no cancer in the low-risk group.
The resulting panel of genes was then transformed into a test to assess the levels of four proteins in the blood.
In an independent cohort of volunteers, testing showed that within 15 years, liver cancer was diagnosed in 37.6% of participants from the high-risk group and none in the low-risk group.
It is noteworthy that most of the genes and proteins informative for a high risk of cancer were immune or inflammatory. Equally important, the levels of these molecules varied depending on the concomitant treatment — bariatric surgery, cholesterol-lowering drugs, immunotherapy.
The results indicate that the analysis can be used not only to assess cancer risks, but also to monitor the effectiveness of concomitant medical interventions.
Currently, research is ongoing. Scientists also plan to develop similar tests for other chronic liver diseases, including hepatitis B and alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Article by Fujiwara et al. Molecular signatures of long-term hepatocellular carcinoma risk in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine – VM.
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