New markers for cancer detection

CHP2 gene expression and quantitation in Egyptian patients with acute leukemia

AIM

CHP2 (calcineurin B homologous protein 2) is identified as a tumor-associated antigen highly expressed in different malignancies. It plays a critical role in cancer cell development, proliferation, motility and survival. It is suggested that the human tumor related gene CHP2 expression in leukemia primary cells and leukemia cell lines significantly increase, which may play an important role in growth process of leukemia cells.

METHODS

In this study, the expression of CHP2 gene was analyzed in 10 normal healthy controls and 40 patients with de novo acute leukemia (20 AML and 20 ALL). CHP2 expression was analyzed using a real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RTQ-PCR) to investigate a possible relation, association or correlation with the clinical features of AL (acute leukemia) at diagnosis, such as age, gender, lineage, HB, TLC, platelet count, BM blast cell infiltration and risk group.

RESULTS

CHP2 was highly expressed in 13/40 AL studied patients (7/20 AML and 6/20 ALL) with mean expression level of 2.7 while it was not expressed in any of the controls.

CONCLUSIONS

Many studies suggest that CHP2 expression is a novel prognostic marker in AL and thus needs to be incorporated into the patient stratification and treatment protocols. In addition, a quarter of AL patients fail therapy and novel treatments that are focused on undermining specifically the leukemic process are needed urgently.

Oncogenic microRNAs (OncomiRs) as a new class of cancer biomarkers

Small non-coding RNAs (microRNAs or miRs) represent one of the most fertile areas of cancer research and recent advances in the field have prompted us to reconsider the traditional concept of cancer. Some miRs exert negative control over the expression of numerous oncoproteins in normal cells and consequently their deregulation is believed to be an important mechanism underlying cancer development and progression. Owing to their distinct patterns of expression associated with cancer type, remarkable stability and presence in blood and other body fluids, miRs are considered to be highly promising cancer biomarkers. The identification of "miR signatures" associating cancer cell phenotypes with disease outcome and specific risk factor exposures will undoubtedly open new avenues for early diagnosis and therapy of cancer, as well as for the development of novel strategies for cancer prevention.

DNA methylation: a promising target for the twenty-first century

BACKGROUND

Over the last few years DNA methylation and its involvement in diseases such as cancer has become of great interest for applied research. Since reversal of aberrant DNA methylation may influence the behavior of tumors, the methylation of DNA CpG sites is a potential target for the development of inhibitors for use in cancer treatment.

OBJECTIVE/METHODS

We briefly review the structural and mechanistic features of DNA methylation, including a structural analysis of the three main human DNA methyltransferases and some (pre)clinical results.

RESULTS/CONCLUSION

Despite side effects, data obtained to date still support the vision that DNA-methylation, possibly associated with the use of histone deacetylases (HDACs) and/or artificial transcription factors (ATFs), is a promising target for improving anticancer therapy in the 21st century.

Thyroid cancer review 2: management of differentiated thyroid cancers

This is the second review article on thyroid cancer dealing with the common differentiated types that comprise 90% of thyroid cancers. Despite clinical management guidelines offered by a number of organisations including the British Association of Otolaryngologists and Head and Neck Surgeon, The British Thyroid Association, The American Association Of Endocrinologists, The American Thyroid Association and the National Cancer Centre Network, debate regarding the management of differentiated thyroid cancer continues. This is because of the absence of good quality research evidence as a consequence of the natural history of this disease.

N/A

N/A

Characterization of amplifiable, circulating RNA in plasma and its potential as a tool for cancer diagnostics

BACKGROUND

Several recent reports have described the detection of circulating, cancer-related RNA molecules in serum or plasma from cancer patients, but little is known about the biology of this extracellular RNA. We aimed to determine how RNA is protected against degradation in serum, to optimize RNA isolation from large volumes of serum, and to test our optimized assays for serum-based cancer detection.

METHODS

We used quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (QRT-PCR) analysis to investigate the isolation and biology of extracellular plasma RNA. We then examined the presence of amplifiable RNA transcripts in plasma and serum from controls and from patients with esophageal cancer and malignant melanoma.

RESULTS

We found that extracellular RNA in plasma is highly degraded and can be isolated most efficiently by guanidinium-phenol extraction followed by precipitation. Extracellular RNA is stable in serum for up to 3 h but is destroyed immediately by addition of detergents. Extracellular RNA can be captured on 0.2 microm filters, allowing concentration of RNA from several milliliters of plasma. When we concentrated RNA from up to 4 mL of serum, detection of cancer-related transcripts in serum from cancer patients and controls was infrequent and inconsistent.

CONCLUSIONS

Extracellular RNA is most likely protected within protein or lipid vesicles, possibly apoptotic bodies, which can be disrupted by detergents. Despite optimizing many aspects of plasma RNA detection, we were unable to reproducibly detect cancer-related transcripts. Our data suggest that measurement of circulating RNA may not be a good approach to early cancer diagnosis.