Novel blood test to detect ovarian cancer at an early stage shows promising results

A new blood test developed by researchers from Adelaide, Australia has the potential to diagnose early and late stage ovarian cancer. The test is engineered from a bacterial toxin and is highly effective in detecting levels of a specific biomarker released in blood by the tumor cells.

With lack of early-stage symptoms and no known definitive screening test, ovarian cancer is difficult to detect at early stages. However, it has a 90% five-year survival rate if detected early as opposed to only 20% five-year survival if detected at the later stages.

The research was published in the November issue of the Journal of Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

Human tumor cells undergo aberrant glycosylation and release N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc)-containing glycans in the bloodstream. The researchers from University of Adelaide and Griffith University noted that a subunit of toxin produced by Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli recognizes Neu5Gc containing glycans and can be used as a test to detect the abnormal glycans in sera of ovarian cancer patients.

The research team previously used a Neu5Gc-specific lectin, SubB2M, to enhance recognition of Neu5Gc-containing glycans but in the study, they utilized the optical detection technique of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to detect the binding between SubB2M and Neu5Gc in sera of cancer patients.

In a study involving 69 patients, which included 22 healthy patients and the rest were from all four stages of ovarian cancer, the team showed that Neu5Gc-containing tumor antigens have the potential to serve as diagnostic markers for detection of early-stage ovarian cancer.

Neu5Gc were increased in a majority of stage I/II ovarian cancer and is also uniformly elevated in stage IIIC and IV of ovarian cancer. The test showed a sensitivity of 90% for detection of ovarian cancer for stage I/II, that increased to 100% for stages III and IV of cancer.

“Ovarian cancer is notoriously difficult to detect in its early stages, when there are more options for treatment and survival rates are better. Our new test is, therefore, a potential game changer,” says Professor James Paton, Director of the University of Adelaide’s Research Centre for Infectious Diseases in a media release.

Ovarian cancer is responsible for more cancer deaths than any other cancer of female reproductive tract and ranks fifth in all cancer deaths among women. According to The American Cancer Society, about 22,240 women will receive a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer, and about 14,070 women will die from ovarian cancer in 2018.

The team is currently planning on more extensive studies and looking for commercial partners to bring the test into the market as early as possible.

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May is National Preeclampsia Awareness month in US.

The Preeclampsia Foundation and its partners have marked the month of May as preeclampsia awareness month to raise awareness about the condition and its symptoms. Many events and walks are organized throughout US to raise the public awareness about this condition.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive disorder in pregnancy complicating up to 1-5% of pregnancies, and remains a major cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality worldwide.

Besides being the cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality it is also an important risk factor for CVD later in life.

Several studies, meta-analysis and systematic review have that women with a history of preeclampsia have 2-4-fold increased risk of cardiovascular diseases(CVD) later in life.

A recent paper presented at the ACOG conference in San Diego showed that internist and family physicians seldom ask the women about this during a well women examination missing an important opportunity to identify women at risk for a CVD event.

Here are few other important research papers published recently on early diagnosis, treatment and long term follow up of patients with  preeclampsia:

USPSTF final recommendation statement favor screening for preeclampsia throughout pregnancy.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) today issued its final recommendations for preeclampsia screening by monitoring the blood pressure throughout pregnancy with grade B, meaning there exists substantial net benefit for the mother and infant because of screening.

The recommendations, accompanying editorial and systematic review evidence was published online 25 April 2017 in JAMA.

https://obgynupdated.blogspot.com/2017/04/uspstf-final-recommendation-statement.html

Preeclampsia doubles the risk of future major fatal and nonfatal coronary event.

History of preeclampsia in first pregnancy doubles the risk for Major Cardiac Event (MACEs) subsequently later in life for mothers, the risk is 2.8 times if the preeclamptic pregnancy resulted in SGA and/or preterm delivery. If the preeclampsia recurs in subsequent pregnancy the risk is 2.2 times while if it is combined again with in SGA and/or preterm delivery the risk increases nearly 5 times compared with women without preeclampsia according to new research study published in March issue of Journal of American Medical Association(JAMA)

https://obgynupdated.blogspot.com/2017/04/preeclampsia-doubles-risk-of-future.html

Pre-clinical atherosclerosis persists up to 10 years after preeclamptic pregnancy .

Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive disorder in pregnancy complicating up to 1-5% of pregnancies, and remains a major cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality worldwide.

https://obgynupdated.blogspot.com/2017/01/pre-clinical-atherosclerosis-persists.html

History of preeclampsia linked to coronary artery calcification 30 years later.

Preeclampsia (PE) is a hypertensive pregnancy disorder complicating 1-5% of all pregnancies, and is a major cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. 

In-fact it is known as the modulator of the offspring health, as many studies have associated it with increased incidence of metabolic syndrome later in the life of the offspring. 

A substantial number of epidemiological studies in recent year have also documented it to be a risk factor for increased cardiovascular and renal diseases for mother later in life.

https://obgynupdated.blogspot.com/2016/02/history-of-preeclampsia-linked-to.html

New Use of old drug: Sildenafil Citrate ( Viagra) in treatment of preeclampsia.

A recent study published online July 07, 2016 in journal of obstetrics and gynecology concluded that treatment with sildenafil citrate prolonged pregnancy by an average of 4 days compared with placebo.

Sildenafil citrate, is a specific phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, augments the vasodilatory effects of NO by preventing the degradation of cGMP causing vasodilatation. Phosphodiesterase-5 is present in the human feto-placental circulation and sildenafil mediates vasodilatation and improve fetoplacental circulation by the same mechanism of action.

https://obgynupdated.blogspot.com/2016/07/new-use-of-old-drug-sildenafil-citrate.html

Renal Function Tests useful in predicting the risk of preeclampsia.

A recent paper published online June 6 in Obstetrics & Gynecology suggests that baseline renal parameters may be useful in predicting the risk for preeclampsia among pregnant women with chronic hypertension.

This is a retrospective cohort study of 755 women with singleton pregnancy with chronic hypertension. Renal function (urine protein-to-creatinine ratio and serum creatinine) assessment was done in all patients before 20 weeks.

https://obgynupdated.blogspot.com/2016/06/renal-function-tests-useful-in.html

Two blood tests to rule out pre-eclampsia approved by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), UK.

NICE have approved and recommended two blood tests Triage PlGF test (Alere) and the Elecsys immunoassay sFlt-1/PlGF ratio (Roche Diagnostics) to help rule-out pre-eclampsia between 20th and 35th week of pregnancy.

The tests detect changes in the blood indicating that the placenta is not developing properly.

https://obgynupdated.blogspot.com/2016/05/two-blood-tests-to-rule-out-pre.html