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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - What you cough up in the morning could help diagnose lung cancer, according to research conducted at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
That’s because some material coughed up along with phlegm could include cells missing their tumor suppression genes, according to a release from the school.
“Lung cancer is the biggest cancer killer in the world for men and for women,” said Dr. Feng Jiang, assistant professor of pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Currently only an invasive biopsy of lung tissue can identify lung cancer with certainty, he said.
Jiang and other researchers at the school are developing an inexpensive and noninvasive genetic probe to help diagnose early stage lung cancer in current and former smokers. In the Jan. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, they reported their fledgling test, designed to check whether two genes believed to be tumor suppressors are deleted in cells found in sputum, and identified 76 percent of stage one lung cancer patients whose tumors also showed the same genetic loss.
They are now expanding their test to screen for up to eight genes and improve the accuracy of the test, Jiang said.
The simple DNA analysis would be more cost-effective and less painful than removing a piece of suspect lung tissue to test for cancer, he said.
Earlier tests on sputum coughed up by smokers were only 47 percent reliable.
“Most heavy smokers never develop lung cancer, even though cells in their airways show genetic damage,” Jiang said. “The trick is to find the genes that are only cancer-related.”
Early diagnosis and treatment is essential to survival, Jiang said.
Each year, 213,380 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute, and 160,390 people die from the disease.
The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, and a researcher from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center participated with University of Maryland investigators in the study.
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2:20 PM MST on Sun., Feb. 10, 2008 re: "Inmate gets drunk on hand sanitizer"
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6:48 PM MST on Wed., Aug. 8, 2007
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8:24 AM MST on Sun., Jun. 10, 2007
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Examiner Reader said:
Your alcohol facts are not quite straight. You mentioned Avant Hand Sanitizer- it has denatured alcohol. The denaturing process adds a bitter agent- it make sit taste horrible- definitely not a vodka type drink. That is why alcohol is denatured- to avoid abuse like this. It will likely make you vomit.
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Examiner Reader said:
Former Minneapolis Fire Chief: A First Responder in I-35W Bridge Collapse; Coordinates Helping Hand Contribution of Soapopular Hand Sanitizers For EMS Workers For Immediate Release Minneapolis, MN, Aug 8, 2007-- Former Minneapolis Fire Department Chief Bonnie Bleskachek, an embattled hero to many in the Minneapolis community, hasn't allowed recent personal controversy to stand in the way of helping Minnesota citizens in times of crisis. Since the August 1 catastrophe first occurred, Bleskachek has been working tirelessly by coordinating volunteer and emergency supply logistics, and she was the first to respond to an unsolicited call from a Connecticut company offering to contribute a shipment of Soapopular, a new, alcohol-free hand sanitizer, for emergency workers at the disaster scene.
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Examiner Reader said:
Hand-Sanitizer=Alcohol Poisoning.. As inane as the subject might seam, the exponential growth in the use of hand sanitizer products over the past few years has lead to an ever-increasing number of alcohol-poisoning instances--and too many within school/educational settings. Most recent report was two weeks ago in Hartford CT, where second grader, overloaded her hands from a Purell bottle on her teachers desk ,then licked it off--and was soon rushed to Yale University Hospital and diagnosed with alchohol poisoning. Thank goodness that some new manufacturers, including Soapopular--which offers a full line of Alcohol-FREE hand sanitizing products, are now getting retailers to put their products on their shelves. Soapopular, which is Canada's leading brand in the alcohol-free segment, made its debut last week here in the US.
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