健康英语新闻:U.S. researchers detect early lung cancer through gene expression changes in nasal cells

LOS ANGELES, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Using a simple, minimally- invasive technique to analyze cells from the interior of the nose, U.S. researchers have detected lung cancer in its earliest stage.

For the study, the researchers at the Boston University Medical Center collected nasal epithelial cells from thirty three smokers who were undergoing medically-indicated bronchoscopies for suspicion of lung cancer, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on Sunday.

Of these patients, 11 were found to have benign disease and 22 had lung cancer. Brushings were taken from the right or left nostril and profiled on microarrays, a process that allows researchers to study gene expression changes.

The researchers identified 170 genes that were differentially expressed between patients with and without lung cancer. They also found that genes linked to colon cancer and adenocarcinoma, as well as genes that trigger cell division and blood vessel growth, were expressed more heavily in patients with cancer. Genes involved in tumor suppression were also expressed at lower levels in these patients.

Earlier studies have used gene expression differences in the bronchial airways to identify lung cancer in its early stages. The researchers relied on those results to design the current study.

"In this study we used the same principle as we used in our earlier studies of bronchial tissue, only this time, those methods were used to study nasal cells," said study author Christina Anderlind, MD, Instructor of Medicine. "Our hypothesis was that the upper airway epithelium of smokers with lung cancer displays a cancer-specific gene expression pattern, and that this airway nasal gene expression signature reflects the changes that occur in lung tissue."