2018年6月7日 讯 /生物谷BIOON/ --近日，在华盛顿召开的2018年消化性疾病周会议上，来自梅奥诊所的研究人员发表了他们最新的研究成果，如今他们已经完成了II期临床试验，即比较一组DNA标志物和α甲胎蛋白是否能作为一种新方法来检测肝癌。

图片来源：secondopinionnewsletter.com

医学博士John Kisiel表示，目前我们利用超声和血液蛋白标志物—α甲胎蛋白来检测肝癌患者，但很不幸的是，这些检测手段并不能敏感地监测一些可治愈的晚期肝癌，而且大部分需要接受这种检测的患者经常无法获得有效的检测信息，从而耽误疾病的治疗。

这项研究中，研究者Kisiel及其同事就利用一种异常的DNA标志物开发出了一种简单的血液检测手段，这种异常的DNA标志物存在于肝癌组织中，研究人员通过研究证实，这些异常的DNA标志物在绝大多数原发性肝癌患者的血液样本中都存在。同时这些标志物在健康个体以及肝硬化个体（随访过程中并未发现患者机体中存在肝脏肿瘤）机体中并不存在。

研究者表示，我们非常激动，因为我们所发现的DNA标志物能够帮助我们检测90%以上的可治愈阶段的肿瘤患者，这也就是为何我们认为DNA检测手段与当前的可用的检测手段不同的主要原因了；下一步研究者将在更大规模的患者群体中进行研究来验证这些DNA标志物。

据美国国家癌症研究所数据显示，美国每年新发肝癌和胆管癌患者的数量为8.8/10万，而且肝癌是肝硬化或乙肝患者死亡的主要原因，在全球范围内肝癌也是引发人群因癌症死亡第二大原因，因此研究人员还希望后期进行更为深入的研究开发出能有效检测肝癌的新型技术或手段。（生物谷Bioon.com）

原始出处：

A step closer to developing a DNA test for liver cancer

A group of researchers from Mayo Clinic and Exact Sciences Corporation have completed a phase II study comparing a set of DNA markers to alpha fetoprotein as a method to test for liver cancer. The researchers presented their findings today at the 2018 Digestive Disease Week conference in Washington, D.C.

"We currently test for liver cancer using ultrasound and a blood protein marker called alpha fetoprotein," says John Kisiel, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic. "Unfortunately, these tests are not very sensitive for curable stage liver cancers, and most patients who need this testing do not have it easily available or [are] not able to receive it often enough to be effective."

Dr. Kisiel and his colleagues developed a simple blood test using abnormal DNA markers that are known to exist in liver cancer tissues. They were able to confirm that the abnormal DNA markers were present in the overwhelming majority of blood samples that came from people with primary liver cancers. Simultaneously, these markers were absent in healthy individuals and individuals with cirrhosis of the liver but no evidence of tumors on their clinical follow-up.

来源：丁香通