Proteins in blood could provide cancer warning seven years earlier

In two new studies, researchers at Oxford Population Health have found that proteins linked to cancer can appear in people’s blood more than seven years prior to diagnosis.

In the first study, researchers identified 618 proteins linked to 19 different types of cancer, including 107 proteins in people whose blood was collected at least seven years prior to diagnosis.

According to the study, these proteins could be involved at the earliest stages of cancer and intercepting them could mean stopping the disease in its tracks.

“This research brings us closer to being able to prevent cancer with targeted drugs – once thought impossible but now much more attainable,” said Dr Karl Smith-Byrne, Senior Molecular Epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health.

In the second study, researchers examined data from 300,000 cancer cases and found 40 proteins in the blood that influence a person’s risk of developing nine different types of cancer, including bowel cancer.

“This research is encouraging as it shows that certain proteins found in blood are prognostic markers associated with developing future cancers, including bowel cancer, and these proteins are observed several years prior to diagnosis,” said Professor Mark Molloy, Lawrence Penn Chair of Bowel Cancer Research.

“For bowel cancer the best prognostic marker protein was associated with a 32% increased risk of developing malignancy,” he added.

Both studies used a technique called proteomics to pinpoint differences in blood samples between people who did and did not go on to develop cancer.

“To be able to prevent cancer, we need to understand the factors driving the earliest stages of its development. These studies are important because they provide many new clues about the causes and biology of multiple cancers, including insights into what’s happening years before a cancer is diagnosed,” said Professor Ruth Travis, Senior Molecular Epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health.

We now have technology that can look at thousands of proteins across thousands of cancer cases, identifying which proteins have a role in the development of specific cancers, and which might have effects that are common to multiple cancer types,” she added.