Health
NCI awards go to labs for cancer biomarker research
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 27, 2004
The National Cancer Institute has stepped up the search for biomarkers in the blood, other body fluids or tissues that may signal the earliest presence of cancer or the risk for cancer.
The institute has awarded $9.8 million in first-year funding for 17 laboratories that will "ultimately bring biomarker diagnostic tests for cancer into the clinic," said NCI Deputy Director Anna Barker, PhD. The awards represent the second round of 5-year funding for components of the Early Detection Research Network, which began in 1999.
The labs will examine the human genome for genetic material, the proteome for the proteins made by the genes, the epitome for immune response biomarkers via antibody-antigen patterns and metabolome for metabolic pathways and regulation for identifiers of cancer at its most curable stage.
In related news, Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered a key molecule that allows doctors to identify one of the most aggressive types of kidney cancer. Patients with renal cell carcinoma who have higher levels of a molecule known as B7-H1 in their tumors are nearly five times more likely to die from the disease than patients with low levels or an absence of the molecule. The finding is expected to help improve treatment or to serve as a target for new therapies.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/12/27/hlbf1227.htm.
