Thema: Presse: New Brain Tumor Indicator
Presse: New Brain Tumor Indicator
Katja[a]
23.06.2003 10:30:04
New Brain Tumor Indicator
Cleveland Clinic researchers discover link between elevated serum levels of Protein S100B and breakdown of blood-brain barrier.
Cleveland Clinic researchers have found that elevated serum levels of the protein S100B (beta) could be an indication of a brain tumor or of extensive disruption to a person's blood-brain barrier, the mechanism that protects the brain from foreign substances and, sometimes, useful therapeutic agents.
S100B, a protein found in brain cells, typically exists in low or even undetectable levels in a person's blood serum. In the event of a brain injury, however, S100B leaks into cerebrospinal fluids and subsequently can be detected in the serum. "More than just signaling a brain injury, high levels of S100B in the bloodstream show the breakdown of the body's blood-brain barrier," said Damir Janigro, Ph.D., director of the Cerebrovascular Center at The Cleveland Clinic.
Results of the research will be published in the June 1 edition of the journal Cancer.
"This research is significant because it provides the basis for developing a blood test for the diagnosis of brain tumors," said the study´s lead researcher, Andrew A. Kanner, M.D., a neurosurgeon and researcher in the Center of Translational Therapeutics and the Cerebral Vascular Laboratory in The Cleveland Clinic's Brain Tumor Institute.
"Such a blood test could do for the diagnosis and follow up of primary and metastatic brain tumors what the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test has done for the detection of prostate cancer," Dr. Kanner said. "It also could provide a more cost-effective alternative to using an MRI to follow patients with known brain tumors."
In addition, the researchers' findings could be used in the development of a tool or objective measure to assess when the body may be more or less receptive to pharmacological treatment or to further evaluate patients at risk for brain tumors associated with blood-brain barrier disruption, he said.
Dr. Kanner and Dr. Janigro led the team of 12 researchers that studied serum S100B levels in six patients undergoing blood-brain barrier disruption for intra-arterial chemotherapy for primary central nervous system lymphoma. An additional 53 serum samples were measured in patients with a variety of primary or metastatic brain lesions at the time of neuroimaging.
Future research will better determine the specificity of S100B as a marker for the disruption of the blood-brain barrier and the early detection of brain tumors.
© Cleveland Clinic 2003
Cleveland Clinic researchers discover link between elevated serum levels of Protein S100B and breakdown of blood-brain barrier.
Cleveland Clinic researchers have found that elevated serum levels of the protein S100B (beta) could be an indication of a brain tumor or of extensive disruption to a person's blood-brain barrier, the mechanism that protects the brain from foreign substances and, sometimes, useful therapeutic agents.
S100B, a protein found in brain cells, typically exists in low or even undetectable levels in a person's blood serum. In the event of a brain injury, however, S100B leaks into cerebrospinal fluids and subsequently can be detected in the serum. "More than just signaling a brain injury, high levels of S100B in the bloodstream show the breakdown of the body's blood-brain barrier," said Damir Janigro, Ph.D., director of the Cerebrovascular Center at The Cleveland Clinic.
Results of the research will be published in the June 1 edition of the journal Cancer.
"This research is significant because it provides the basis for developing a blood test for the diagnosis of brain tumors," said the study´s lead researcher, Andrew A. Kanner, M.D., a neurosurgeon and researcher in the Center of Translational Therapeutics and the Cerebral Vascular Laboratory in The Cleveland Clinic's Brain Tumor Institute.
"Such a blood test could do for the diagnosis and follow up of primary and metastatic brain tumors what the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test has done for the detection of prostate cancer," Dr. Kanner said. "It also could provide a more cost-effective alternative to using an MRI to follow patients with known brain tumors."
In addition, the researchers' findings could be used in the development of a tool or objective measure to assess when the body may be more or less receptive to pharmacological treatment or to further evaluate patients at risk for brain tumors associated with blood-brain barrier disruption, he said.
Dr. Kanner and Dr. Janigro led the team of 12 researchers that studied serum S100B levels in six patients undergoing blood-brain barrier disruption for intra-arterial chemotherapy for primary central nervous system lymphoma. An additional 53 serum samples were measured in patients with a variety of primary or metastatic brain lesions at the time of neuroimaging.
Future research will better determine the specificity of S100B as a marker for the disruption of the blood-brain barrier and the early detection of brain tumors.
© Cleveland Clinic 2003
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