Source: www.theday.com
Author: staff

A University of Connecticut researcher thinks he might have found a way to find cancer even before it reveals itself in a tumor or other symptoms. Jim Rusling, professor of chemistry and cell biology at the UConn Health Center, has been working with colleagues at the National Institutes of Health to detect specific proteins found in the blood of those with prostate or oral cancer.

These biomarker proteins are detectable in early stages of these cancers, so the researchers believe they can be used for earlier detection and prevention than is now possible.

Rusling noted that the approach has an advantage over genetic testing, because that can only assess the risk of getting the disease, whereas measuring biomarkers can reveal the actual presence cancer. He described the project, funded by a $1.5 million NIH grant, in a recent issue of Analytical Chemistry.