Latest Science Research Could Lead to Early Detection of Cancer

Antibodies are normally produced in response to a foreign protein or substance within the body, typically a pathogen, which is a infectious organism. Normally, the immune system is able to recognize and ignore the body’s own cells and to not overreact to non-threatening substances in the environment, such as foods. Sometimes, however, the immune system ceases to recognize one or more of the body’s normal constituents as “self,” leading to production of autoantibodies.

According to the Harvard Mesothelioma blog, “These autoantibodies attack the body’s own cells, tissues, and/or organs, causing inflammation and damage.

A class of immune agents in our bodies known as autoantibodies has been identified as a potential biomarker for cancer detection, according to a recent study by Denmark scientists.

For the study, which was published in the journal Cancer Research, the Denmark team analyzed blood samples of patients who had been diagnosed with three different types of cancer – breast cancer, prostate cancer and ovarian cancer. Within some of these samples, the researchers successfully identified autoantibodies associated with cancer. When the team looked at blood samples of healthy individuals, no such immune agents were present.

Autoantibodies differ from regular antibodies in that they are specially designed to attack the body’s own tissues, rather than invading bacteria or viruses. Autoantibodies have previously been detected in patients with illnesses such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. For cancer, it appears these autoantibodies assemble in an attempt to destroy particular antigens that form on cancerous cells.

Based on these early results, the Denmark team is hopeful that a routine blood test that looks for autoantibodies could serve as a reliable early warning sign of cancer.

Looking for biomarkers to detect cancer is nothing new. Currently, blood tests search for elevated levels of specific antigens that have been correlated to prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and many other cancer types. These previous tests seem less conclusive than autoantibody tests, however, because healthy cells and illnesses not related to cancer have also be shown to manufacture these biomarkers.

Additionally, these current biomarkers can be difficult to identify until the cancer has progressed beyond its earliest stages. Such is not the case with autoantibodies, which are more abundant in the beginning stages of cancer.

For the study, the research team looked at a cancer antigen class called mucins. Heightened levels of mucins have previously been identified in a number of cancers, which gave the team hope for far-reaching results. An initial problem that needed to be addressed, however, was the fact that mucins are also present with some non-cancerous disorders. To overcome this issue, the team engineered a mucin that was cancer specific (MUC1).

Blood samples of three groups (ovarian, prostate and breast cancer patients) of 20 patients were collected for the research. After passing each sample through a microarray that contained the mucin synthesis, autoantibodies were identified in 20 to 30 percent of the patients. The Denmark team believes that accuracy could be improved by augmenting the mucin design to target other proteins related to cancer.

“Autoantibody tests may be ordered as part of an investigation of chronic progressive arthritis type symptoms and/or unexplained fevers, fatigue, muscle weakness and rashes. The Antinuclear antibody (ANA) test is often ordered first. ANA is a marker of the autoimmune process – it is positive with a variety of different autoimmune diseases but not specific. Consequently, if an ANA test is positive, it is often followed up with other tests associated with arthritis and inflammation, such as a rheumatoid factor (RF), an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), a C-Reactive Protein (CRP), and/or complement protein|complement levels.”

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