Researchers in Manchester have developed an experimental method that shows potential for accurately detecting the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer in adults, known as glioblastoma, from the blood.
This pioneering study, led by scientists at the University of Manchester and involving teams in Denmark, has been published in Neuro-oncology Advances [add link to article].
In what is considered a major breakthrough in the battle against brain cancer, scientists have found early evidence that a pair of proteins in the blood may help identify glioblastoma with high accuracy and provide insights into how the disease responds to treatment.
Glioblastoma is notorious for late diagnosis, rapid progression, resistance to treatment and extreme biological complexity. At present, diagnosis and follow-up rely largely on MRI scans and invasive surgical biopsies, which can miss early changes and cannot be repeated frequently. As a result, clinicians often struggle to determine in real time whether a treatment is working or whether the tumour is beginning to return.
The new research shows that two blood-borne proteins - coagulation factor IX (F9) and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) - form a powerful "dual-marker" signature that distinguishes patients with glioblastoma from healthy individuals with high accuracy (more than 90%). In samples taken from patients during surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the markers showed dynamic changes, reflecting treatment response and disease progression.
Professor Petra Hamerlik, The Brain Tumour Charity chair of Translational Neuro-Oncology at The University of Manchester, who led the study, said: "Glioblastoma is one of the most devastating cancers we face. Late detection is among the contributing factors to poor outcomes and a source of anxiety our patients face leading up to their diagnosis. The lack of reliable tests has been a major barrier to earlier diagnosis and treatment response monitoring. What is remarkable about our findings is that, despite these tumours being very different in genetic make-up, and constantly evolving, the signal in the blood is stable, robust and highly informative. We hope that once validated, this simple blood test may pave the way for earlier diagnosis and more precise monitoring of patients during and after therapy.
"Our dual-marker blood test achieved diagnostic accuracy greater than 90 percent and continued to perform just as well when the disease returned. This opens the door to a future where we can follow the tumour's behaviour through a simple blood sample, complement brain scans, and potentially recognise when the treatment isn't working and the cancer returns much earlier than is currently possible. We still have a long way to go before we would see this used in clinic, but it's a very promising and exciting development in neuro-oncology research."
Dr Simon Newman, Chief Scientific Officer at The Brain Tumour Charity, said: "We are immensely proud to support Petra's role as The Brain Tumour Charity's Chair of Translational Neuro-Oncology through a grant worth £1.35 million. Early and accurate diagnosis is absolutely critical for people with brain tumours, yet current tools are limited and often invasive. This research therefore marks a significant step towards a simple blood test that could help clinicians detect glioblastoma and monitor how patients are responding to treatment in real time."
Professor Hamerlik, who is also the brain tumour lead for Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre concluded: "While validation of this finding is ongoing with the generous contribution of UK patients who kindly donated their blood for this research, our results strongly support the development of a clinically accessible blood test for glioblastoma. Ultimately, this could help doctors make more informed treatment decisions, reduce the need for repeated invasive procedures, and, most importantly, give patients and families clearer, earlier answers."
The study was co-funded by The Brain Tumour Charity and conducted at The University of Manchester and the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC), reinforcing Manchester's leading role in translational neuro-oncology research. The Danish Cancer Society and NovoNordisk Foundation in Denmark also part-funded this study.
- The paper Non-Invasive Detection and Monitoring of Glioblastoma Subtypes via Dual-Marker Plasma Proteomics DOI is available here
