Global serum profiling: an opportunity for earlier cancer detection

Abstract

The advances in cancer research achieved in the last 50 years have been remarkable and have provided a deeper knowledge of this disease in many of its conceptual and biochemical aspects. From viewing a tumor as a ‘simple’ aggregate of mutant cells and focusing on detecting key cell changes leading to the tumorigenesis, the understanding of cancer has broadened to consider it as a complex organ interacting with its close and far surroundings through tumor and non-tumor cells, metabolic mechanisms, and immune processes. Metabolism and the immune system have been linked to tumorigenesis and malignancy progression along with cancer-specific genetic mutations. However, most technologies developed to overcome the barriers to earlier detection are focused solely on genetic information. The concept of cancer as a complex organ has led to research on other analytical techniques, with the quest of finding a more sensitive and cost-effective comprehensive approach. Furthermore, artificial intelligence has gained broader consensus in the oncology community as a powerful tool with the potential to revolutionize cancer diagnosis for physicians. We herein explore the relevance of the concept of cancer as a complex organ interacting with the bodily surroundings, and focus on promising emerging technologies seeking to diagnose cancer earlier, such as liquid biopsies. We highlight the importance of a comprehensive approach to encompass all the tumor and non-tumor derived information salient to earlier cancer detection.

Systematic analyses of the relationship between five CXCL8 gene polymorphisms and overall cancer risk

“…Early detection strategies can improve the e cacy of surgery and other interventional approaches while mitigating the economic and psychological burden associated with an advanced disease diagnosis. It is thus essential that easy-to-use, minimally invasive, cost-effective technologies be developed capable of detecting tumors when they are precancerous lesions or remain in the early stages of disease [29]. The present results revealed that CXCL8 expression was elevated in most surveyed tumor types as compared to corresponding normal tissues.…”