Researchers at the University of Liverpool have developed a breakthrough technology that identifies molecular markers in early lung cancer.
The new technology, created in collaboration with SEQUENOM, developers of genetic analysis products, and Methexis Genomics, uses a DNA analysis technique called methylation profiling to detect cells in the lung that are likely to become cancerous.
There are a number of genetic mechanisms that can alter the characteristics of a normal cell and change it into a cancer cell. One of these mechanisms is methylation, which causes a change in the DNA structure of particular genes and results in altering its control – this may switch the gene on or off at the wrong time in the cell cycle.
Dr Lakis Liloglou, Head of the University’s Lung Cancer Molecular Biomarkers Group, explains: “This is of particular importance in lung cancer research, as the changes in methylation status of the DNA are considered to be a marker for early disease detection.
“Even though DNA methylation analysis has been a previous area of research, prior techniques had a range of technical limitations, that prevented them from being of any real clinical use. This newly developed method overcomes many of the problems and combines the sensitivity of high-powered microscopes with the capability of analysing many samples at a time.”