Liquid Biopsy Using ctDNA Takes Aim at Pancreatic Cancer

Clinicalomics: Investigators from Sorbonne University in Paris have now assessed the feasibility and the prognostic value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, a significant advance in a hard-to-diagnose disease that is expected to become the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. by 2030. There remain several challenges to conducting translational research on pancreatic cancer, including the difficulty in obtaining tumor samples from patients, since most studies have been limited to patients with the resectable disease until now. However, only 10% to 15% of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma have resectable disease at diagnosis—making identification of robust prognostic or predictive biomarkers critical for all patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma, whatever the stage of the disease.

Researchers develop new breath test to diagnose oesophageal and gastric cancer

London: Researchers have devised a breath test that can help doctors diagnose the early signs of oesophageal and gastric cancer in minutes. The test has produced encouraging results in a clinical study, and will now be tested in a larger trial involving three hospitals in London. Researchers analysed breath samples of 210 patients using the test. They found that the test can discriminate between malignant and benign oesophageal cancer in patients for the first time. The test is 90 per cent accurate and provides results in minutes, which can take up to four to six hours to process using other methods.  The test can also be applied to detect gastric (stomach) cancer tumours.

Paper biosensor with nano-battery based upon microbial respiration

Binghamton: Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, can be used to create beautiful birds, frogs and other small sculptures. Now a Binghamton University engineer says the technique can be applied to building batteries, too. Seokheun “Sean” Choi developed an inexpensive, bacteria-powered battery made from paper, he writes in the July edition of the journal Nano Energy.

Eye imaging software could aid disease diagnosis

Dundee: Imaging technology that scans blood vessels in the eye could be used to help diagnose a wide range of diseases, according to a study carried out by the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee. Researchers say software designed to assess the health of vessels in the retina could help scientists spot the early signs of heart disease, diabetes and dementia.Changes to the retina are often a sign of sickness elsewhere in the body. The software – known as VAMPIRE – allows scientists to analyse the shape of blood vessels in thousands of images at a time and can identify known indicators of disease.

A pocket-sized medical lab being tested in Switzerland

Lausanne: The device – a sort of Swiss army knife of medical tests – was created by Qloudlab, a start-up based at EPFL, and is currently undergoing certification at the CHUV hospital. This miniature laboratory is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to monitor various health parameters either in hospital or at home. Fitting a medical laboratory into one’s pocket is no magic trick. All it takes is a clever combination of embedded electronic systems, modular sensors and a mobile app. The product, sleek in design, is easy to carry around because it fits in the palm of one hand. And like a Swiss army knife, it can be adapted to meet specific needs. “Thanks to interchangeable connectors, it will eventually be able to run the gamut of blood, urine and saliva tests and measure a number of parameters,” said Arthur Queval, the founder of Qloudlab, an EPFL spin-off.

New blood test for viral infections shows promise

NHS: "New test uses a single drop of blood to reveal entire history of viral infections," The Guardian reports. Every time you are infected by a virus, your immune system produces specific types of antibodies in response. These antibodies remain in your body long after the infection has gone. The new test, called VirScan, is able to assess all these antibodies, building up a detailed immune "history" of viral infections.
Researchers looked at how well the test performed on blood samples from more than 500 people from North and South America, Africa and Asia.

VirScan reveals current and past infections in a single test

Harvard: From a single drop of blood, researchers can now simultaneously test for more than 1,000 different strains of viruses that may have currently or previously infected a person. Using a new method known as VirScan, researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital tested for evidence of past viral infections. They detected 10 viral species per person on average. The new work sheds light on the interplay between a person’s immunity and the human virome—the vast array of viruses that can infect humans—with implications both for the clinic and for the field of immunology. The team reported its findings in Science on June 5.

New Technology May Allow Urine Sampling Rather Than Blood Testing

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: R. Kenneth Marcus, FRSC & FAAAS Professor of Chemistry Clemson University

Prof. Marcus: What we have developed is best termed an enabling technology.  The use of urine rather blood as a sampling medium has obvious advantages.  Proteins in urine are very efficiently collected for subsequent survey and quantitative analysis in terms of identifying potential biomarkers.  In the case of sample-limited analysis, single nanomolar concentrations of spiked proteins can be extracted and detected by MALDI-MS from 1 microliter certified urine sample volumes.  Sensitivity can obviously be improved using larger volumes.

Machine learning breakthrough could revolutionize medicine

Alberta: Computer system that creates personalized metabolic profiles could help doctors predict diseases like Alzheimer's, cancer and diabetes before they develop. A breakthrough in machine learning has also brought about a “game changer” for the science of metabolomics—and will hasten the development of diagnostic and predictive tests for Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes and numerous other conditions, leading to improved prevention and treatment. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Why single blood markers for disease will become a thing of the past

TheConversation: A number of recent studies have reported on the use of biomarkers, particularly blood-based ones, that offer the potential for screening diseases such as cancer and HIV. A biomarker can be a gene, a gene mutation, protein, other molecule or clinical measurement that indicates a given disease state. Biomarkers can be diagnostics (telling us of the presence of a given disease), prognostic (telling us of the outcome for a patient with a particular disease) and predictive (telling us of the response of an individual to a given therapy). The latter has led to the rise of so-called personalised or precision medicine.