Biomarkers
02 Jun Lung Cancer: Breath Test Increasingly Accurate
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof. Nir Peled MD PhD FCCP
Pulmonologist & Medical Oncologist
Thoracic Cancer Unit, Davidoff Cancer Center, RMC, Kaplan St, Petach Tiqwa, Israel
International Lung Cancer Association; Committee Chair; Prevention, Screening & Early Detection of Lung Cancer, IASLC.
MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of this study?
Dr. Peled: The study focuses on early detection of lung cancer through the exhale breath NaNose which was developed by Prof Hossam Haick (Israel). The study included 358 patients who were diagnosed or at risk for lung cancer. The multisite enrollments included UC Denver (Dr Fred Hirsch), Tel Aviv University (Dr Nir Peled), Jacksonville (Dr Stuart Millstone, Dr Douglas Johnson) and Liverpool (Dr John Field).
The NaNose was able to detect lung cancer with a very high accuracy (~90%) even when the lung nodule was tiny and hard to sample. It was even able to discriminate between sub histologies of cancer, which was unexpected.
07 May Alzheimer’s : Amyloid Deposits In Healthy People Signals Increased Brain Atrophy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Niklas Mattsson MD, PhD University of California San Francisco Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases VA Medical Center San Francisco, CA 94121, USA Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology Sahlgren’s University Hospital/Mölndal MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Mattsson: The main finding of this study was that cognitively healthy people with signs of...
20 Apr Lung Cancer: Free Fatty Acids as Potential Biomarkers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Daniel I. Sessler, M.D.
Michael Cudahy Professor and Chair, Department of Outcomes Research
Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Sessler: Free fatty acids, arachidonic acid and linoleic acid, and their metabolites hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids (5-HETE, 11-HETE, 12-HETE, and 15-HETE) were 1.8 to 5.7-fold greater in 37 patients with adenocarcinoma versus 111 patients without cancer (all P<0.001). Areas under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve were significantly greater than 0.50 discriminating lung cancer patients and controls for all biomarkers and phospholipids, and ranged between 0.69 and 0.82 (all P<0.001) for lung cancer patients versus controls. Arachidonic acid, linoleic acid, and 15-HETE showed sensitivity and specificity >0.70 at the best cutpoint. Concentrations of free fatty acids and their metabolites were similar in 18 squamous-cell carcinoma patients and 54 non-cancer controls.
04 Apr Heart Attack Diagnosis in the Emergency Room: How Accurate in Cardiac Troponin?
Posted at 22:54h
in Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Emergency Care, Heart Disease, JACC, Karolinski Institute
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Martin J. Holzmann, MD, PHD
Department of Emergency Medicine
Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Holzmann: In a cohort of 8900 consecutive patients who sought medical attention for chest pain, we found that an undetectable high-sensitivity cardiac troponin level (<5 ng/l), and an ECG with no ischemic changes has a negative predictive value of 99.8% (95%, 99.7-99.9%). Thus, this will rule out MI with nearly 100% accuracy, and independent of when the troponin was measured in relation to onset of chest pain, and independent of any risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
02 Apr Head & Neck Cancer: Biomarkers Predict Radiation Resistance
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jan Akervall, M.D., Ph.D.
Co-director, Head and Neck Cancer Multidisciplinary Clinic
Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak
Clinical Director of Beaumont’s BioBank
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Akervall: We identified biomarkers that can predict who will have an unfavorable response from radiation for head and neck cancer. These can be analyzed using standard laboratory techniques on biopsies that routinely are taken for diagnosis.
19 Mar Colorectal Cancer: New Noninvasive Stool DNA Test
MedicalResearch.com Interview Invitation with:
Dr. Thomas Imperiale MD
Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine
Research Scientist, Indiana University Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research
Research Scientist, Center for Health Services Research, Regenstrief Institute, Inc.
Core Investigator, VA HSR&D Center for Health Information and Communication
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Imperiale: The main findings are the performance characteristics of the multi-target test (sensitivity of 92.3%, specificity of 86.6%) and its performance as compared with the commercial FIT: more sensitive for colorectal cancer and advanced precancerous polyps, but less specific.
19 Mar Diagnosing Pulmonary Embolism: Using Age-Adjusted D-Dimer Cutoff Levels
Medical Research.com Interview with:
Marc Righini, MD
Division of Angiology and Hemostasis
Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of this study?
Dr. Righini: The study shows that when compared with a fixed D-Dimer cutoff of 500 ng/ml, the combination of pretest clinical probability assessment with age-adjusted D-dimer cut-off was associated with a larger number of patients in whom Pulmonary Embolism could be excluded, with a low likelihood of recurrent VTE. The benefit was the most important in patients 75 years or older, in whom using the age-adjusted cutoff instead of the 500 ng/ml cutoff increased five-fold the proportion of patients in whom PE could be excluded on the basis of D-dimer measurement.
14 Mar Diabetes: TNFR1 As Biomarker of Renal Disease and Mortality
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof Samy Hadjadj:
Université de Poitiers, UFR Médecine Pharmacie, Centre d’Investigation clinique,
CHU de Poitiers, Centre d’Investigation clinique, Poitiers, France
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Prof: Hadjadj: The study helps to establish sTNFR1 as a valid biomarker not only for renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes but also for all cause death. Interestingly the addition of sTNFR1 concentration to the UKPDS model outcome equation showed to add some clinical prognostic value to this model for all-cause death.
14 Mar Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Serum Biomarkers of Bone Metabolism
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Primo N. Lara, Jr, MD,
Professor of Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine
Associate Director for Translational Research
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
Sacramento, CA 95817
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study:
Dr. Lara: “We found that blood markers of bone turnover can be used to predict outcomes in men with advanced prostate cancer with spread to bone. We also found that a small proportion of men could be predicted to benefit from an investigational drug based on these same markers.”
14 Mar Sports-Related Concussion Diagnosis Using Blood Biomarker Tau
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Pashtun Shahim, MD
Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory
Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology
Department of Neurochemistry
Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal
Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Shahim: Sports-related concussion in professional ice hockey players is associated with acute axonal and astroglial injury. Plasma total tau, which is a highly central nervous system-specific protein, is a promising biomarker to be used both in the diagnosis of concussion and in the decision-making when an athlete can be declared fit to return to play.
10 Jan Albuterol Nebulizer and Increase in Serum Lactate
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Lawrence M. Lewis, MD Professor, Emergency Medicine and Medicine Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Lewis: The main finding of the study is that there is a dose-dependent increase in serum lactate concentration with increasing amounts of nebulized albuterol administered. This hyperlactatemia did not portend a worse prognosis, and was not associated with worse FEV1 or dyspnea scores.
05 Jan Sleep Deprivation: Blood Markers of Brain Injury
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jonathan Cedernaes PhD
Department of Neuroscience
Uppsala University Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of this study?
Dr. Cedernaes: We found that two peripheral blood markers were modestly but significantly increased in healthy young participants after a single night of sleep deprivation, as compared with a normal night of sleep. These two markers, S-100B and NSE, are for example used as markers of acute ischemic injury in the brain, and are also increased following concussions. S-100B is produced mainly by glial cells and also increases after injury to the blood brain barrier. NSE is instead produced by neurons and is regarded as being more specific for neuronal damage, although it can also be produced by peripheral cells.
19 Dec Systemic Sclerosis: Chemokine CXCL4 as a Biomarker of Progression and Phenotype
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof. Dr. T.R.D.J. Radstake, MD, PhD
Staff Rheumatologist / head translational Immunology
Department of Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology EULAR Center of Excellence
Director, UMC Utrecht Infection and Immunity FOCIS Center of Excellence
University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Prof. Radstake: We observed that the chemokine CXCL4 is highly produced by so-called plasmacytoid dendritic cells in systemic sclerosis (Ssc). CXCL4 is associated with the progression and clinical phenotype of Ssc and thus provides a tool for clinicians to identify those patients in need for aggressive therapy and on the other hand, avoid unnecessary side-effects for those who have mild disease. Moreover, the identified roles for CXCL4 in SSc sparks our knowledge on the pathogenic pathways at hand in this terrible conditions. Now, we and other groups will have to further unravel the precise roles for CXCL4 in SSc and possibly other fibrotic and immune mediated conditions that cover the spectrum of medicine.
30 Oct Lung Cancer: Breath Test Detection
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Peter Mazzone MD, MPH Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine Cleveland Clinic Main Campus Cleveland, OH 44195 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of this study? Dr. Mazzone: There were 2 parts to this study: In the first part we looked at how the breath collection instrument and sensor were performing and made...
03 Oct Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck: Epigenetic Markers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Muy-Teck Teh BSc, PhD Centre for Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Institute of Dentistry Barts & The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Queen Mary University of London, England, United Kingdom MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We found unique DNA markings (epigenetic methylation) on certain genes that may “predict” the risk of developing head and neck cancer. We identified certain DNA methylation marks unique to cancer cells and not found in normal healthy cells. DNA methylation marks act as ‘switches’ that regulate the ‘on or off’ statuses of genes. Abnormal DNA methylation is known to precede cancer initiation. Hence, the presence of these abnormal DNA methylation marks in cells may be tell-tale signs of early cancer initiation. The chemically distinctive properties of methylated DNA provide ample opportunities for clinical exploitation as nucleic acid-based biomarkers potentially detectable in non-invasive samples such as blood, buccal scrapes, or even saliva.27 Aug Vertebral Fractures: Inflammation, hsCRP association in Men
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anna Eriksson MD, PhD Centre for Bone and Arthritis Research Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The main findings of the study are that low-grade inflammation as measured by high sensitive CRP (hsCRP) is a risk factor for fractures in men, and that this is mainly driven by an increased risk for vertebral fractures. Previous epidemiological research has shown that higher levels of hsCRP is associated with an increased risk for fractures in women but until now it has not been known whether this applies also to men. The associations between hsCRP and fracture risk remained also after controlling for a wide range of known risk factors for fractures. There were no associations between hsCRP and BMD in our study. This implies that low-grade inflammation is an independent risk factor for fractures.16 Aug Ovarian Cancer: Histological Typing Important as Biology Differs
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Martin Köbel M.D. Assistant Professor, Pathology and Lab Medicine
Calgary Laboratory Services 9 3535 Research Road Nw Calgary, Alberta T2L 2K8 Canada MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Ovarian carcinomas are now divided into five histological types, which differ with respect to biology and clinical behaviour. However, the histological type assessment varies from center to center. Our study emphasizes the need for a standardized method to identify them. Until such consistent approach is established, histological types from various centers may not comprise the same entities and studies will give inconsistent results.13 Aug Parkinson’s Disease: ApoA1 may be a Protection Marker
MedicalResearch.com: Interview with Alice Chen-Plotkin, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: Parkinson's disease (PD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disease. Many neurons die, but the neurons that make dopamine (dopaminergic neurons) are particularly vulnerable. We think that the disease actually starts well before the time when people show clinical symptoms. We were therefore interested in finding proteins from the blood that correlated with better or worse dopaminergic neuron integrity. Since it's hard to access the dopaminergic neurons directly, we looked at a tracer that labels the ends of the dopaminergic neurons in people who do not have Parkinson's disease but are at high risk for developing it, and we also looked at the age at onset of PD in people who are already symptomatic. Screening just under 100 different proteins from the blood, we found that higher plasma levels of apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) were correlated with better tracer uptake in the people who did not yet have PD, and with older ages at onset in the people who already had PD. These data suggest that plasma ApoA1 may be a marker for PD risk, with higher levels being relatively protective.
12 Aug Diabetes: Marker for Poor Vitamin K Status Reflects Increased Cardiovascular Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Gerdien Dalmeijer Postdoc | Julius Centrum | Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht Kamernummer STR. 6.119 | Huispostnummer STR. 6.131 | Postbus 85500| 3508GA UTRECHT MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The main findings of our prospective study among type 2 diabetes patients show that high circulating desphospho-uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein (dp-ucMGP) concentrations, reflecting a poor vitamin K status, are associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk, especially with peripheral arterial disease and heart failure. These results suggest that a poor vitamin K status is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk. MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected? Answer: To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the association of circulating MGP species with the risk of cardiovascular events; thus far only the association between dp-ucMGP and calcification has been investigated. Several studies but not all have shown that high dp-ucMGP concentrations are associated with increased calcification. We now extend these findings by showing the high circulating dp-ucMGP concentration is also associated with increased CVD risk, especially with peripheral arterial disease and heart failure.18 Jul PCI – Angioplasty: Monitoring Risk Using CK-MB
Interview with: Dr Nicholas D Gollop BSc (Hons) MB BCh
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital,
Norwich, NR4 7UY
Norfolk, United Kingdom
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
We completed a best evidence topic in interventional cardiac surgery to investigate the significance of elevated markers of cardiac damage following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
We compared the clinical and prognostic relevance of the elevation of creatinine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB) and cardiac troponin (cTn) levels during peri-procedural period and post-procedural period, respectively, following an emergency or elective PCI.
We found in excess of 390 papers after a systematic literature search, of which 10 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. From the best evidence available we showed that the monitoring of cardiac biomarkers following PCI can provide important clinical information about the health of the myocardium, as well as prognostic information on short to mid-term outcomes of mortality up to 3 years.
20 Mar Short Telomere Length, Cancer Survival, and Cancer Risk in 47102 Individuals
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Stig E. Bojesen
Staff specialist, MD, PhD, DMSci
Dept. of Clinical Biochemistry, Copenhagen University Hospital
Herlev Hospital DK-2730 Herlev Denmark
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?