英国一项最新研究显示，通过简单的血液检测就可以发现早期肺癌迹象，这能够让病人避免传统的侵入式检查所带来的不便。
英国约克大学等机构的研究人员在新一期美国《国家科学院学报》上报告说，他们发现Ciz1蛋白质的一种变体存在于肺癌肿瘤中，即便是非常早期的肿瘤，也存在这种蛋白质的变体。
研究人员道恩·科弗利说，Ciz1蛋白质的变体可以通过某种方式进入血液，并会在血液中稳定存在，因此只需要简单的血液检测，就可以发现那些肺部有微小肿瘤的病人。
据介绍，及早检测出肺癌可以帮助拯救病人生命，但是已有的一些检测手段不是成本高昂，就是要通过手术切片等侵入式方法获得病人肺部组织样本。
本次研究所用方法只需进行简单的血液检测，可以避免侵入式检测带来的不便。研究人员对一些肺癌患者提供的血液样本进行了测试，发现这种方法具有较高的准确度。研究人员正在尝试在已有成果的基础上，开发出能够在各家医院中广泛使用的检测系统。
Variant Ciz1 is a circulating biomarker for early-stage lung cancer
Gillian Higgins, Katherine M. Roper, Irene J. Watson, Fiona H. Blackhall, William N. Rom, Harvey I. Pass, Justin F. X. Ainscough, and Dawn Coverley
There is an unmet need for circulating biomarkers that can detect early-stage lung cancer. Here we show that a variant form of the nuclear matrix-associated DNA replication factor Ciz1 is present in 34/35 lung tumors but not in adjacent tissue, giving rise to stable protein quantifiable by Western blot in less than a microliter of plasma from lung cancer patients. In two independent sets, with 170 and 160 samples, respectively, variant Ciz1 correctly identified patients who had stage 1 lung cancer with clinically useful accuracy. For set 1, mean variant Ciz1 level in individuals without diagnosed tumors established a threshold that correctly classified 98% of small cell lung cancers (SCLC) and non-SCLC patients [receiver operator characteristic area under the curve (AUC) 0.958]. Within set 2, comparison of patients with stage 1 non-SCLC with asymptomatic age-matched smokers or individuals with benign lung nodules correctly classified 95% of patients (AUCs 0.913 and 0.905), with overall specificity of 76% and 71%, respectively. Moreover, using the mean of controls in set 1, we achieved 95% sensitivity among patients with stage 1 non-SCLC patients in set 2 with 74% specificity, demonstrating the robustness of the classification. RNAi-mediated selective depletion of variant Ciz1 is sufficient to restrain the growth of tumor cells that express it, identifying variant Ciz1 as a functionally relevant driver of cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. The data show that variant Ciz1 is a strong candidate for a cancer-specific single marker capable of identifying early-stage lung cancer within at-risk groups without resort to invasive procedures.
文献链接：Variant Ciz1 is a circulating biomarker for early-stage lung cancer
