Lisa Isaacs
IN A step forward in the fight against cancer, a team based at UCT has discovered a way to detect and diagnose the disease in its early stages.
Kevin Naidoo and Jahanshah Ashkani, of UCT’s chemistry department, identified unique genetic expression of the glycosyltransferase (GT) genes patterns for breast, colon, lung, kidney, ovarian and brain cancer.
Through statistical analysis of genetic data, extracted from 1 893 cancer samples, the team found that each cancer type synthesises carbohydrates in a different way.
Cancer cells need the carbohydrates in order for the tumour to progress.
There are more than 200 different cancers, and the application of the discovered method could be the way to determine which specific cancer it is.
Because each cancer type synthesises carbohydrates differently, Naidoo and Ashkani say the future implication of our approach in a clinical setting will make diagnosis easier, early and more accurate.
“The result of this study will show its invaluable worth in early diagnostics when we track the expression of GT genes in the blood sample,” Ashkani said.
Older methods usually involved analysing tumour tissues by physical and optical chemical measures, and then to classify the patient’s cancer as one of more than 200 cancer types, he added.
Developing low-cost means of evaluating the expression of GT genes in the blood that can be added to the annual medical check-up can be a revolutionary method for early diagnosis and precision treatment of cancer, he said.
Ashkani emphasised that early diagnosis is critical for cancer survival.
“Most patients diagnosed at the late stages have lower chances of survival compared to other patients because cancer is a complex disease and, if it spreads, treatment becomes more difficult, the chance of cancer recurrence will be high and generally a patient’s chances of surviving are very low,” he said.
The discovery is under- lining the importance of using computational big data analytics in biomedical sciences and the developing field of personalised medicine, Ashkani said.
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