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Hope for Liver Cancer’s Early Detection
By admin | December 7, 2007
In the United States in many other Western countries, liver cancer only comes as secondary cancer or an outgrowth of another, more deadly and primary cancer. In the East, however, particularly China, liver cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer. People are exposed and vulnerable to HCC or hepatocellular carcinoma due to instances of hepatitis B or hepatitis C. When someone’s already afflicted with HCC, the chances of survival are slim even after therapy. Thing is, symptoms of liver cancer usually don’t manifest until the patient’s already critical. Scientists are working to find a way to detect liver cancer early.
A group of Chinese scientists might have the answer for that. Although the findings are fairly new and hence it will take time to develop what they had found out, they were able to determine a probable solution to early liver cancer detection. To be able to pinpoint early liver cancer, scientists explore human genes. They had detected an anomaly in the genes of HCC patients. A gene called RASSF1A, a tumor suppressing gene, is reportedly altered in people inflicted with HCC. In cancer patients, the RASSF1A is hypermethylated which means hydrogen and carbon atoms, in clusters which what is more commonly known as methyl groups, adhere to the RASSF1A gene. This would completely negate the tumor-suppressing capacity of the gene in question.
To be able to determine the hypermethylated RASSF1A levels of an individual, the Chinese scientists have developed a technique to segregate the components for PCR or polymerase chain reaction. Results show that for patients with HCC, 93% of the RASSF1A is hypermethylated while for Hepatitis B virus patients, only 58% is hypermethylated. Unaffected individuals do not display the anomaly at all. In the future, when the technique and testing are refined, liver cancer would be detected early and patients are given more chance at survival.
Topics: Early Detection |
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