Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer, strongly associated with prior exposure to asbestos. Commonly, tumors are detected at late stages of the disease. Detection at early stages might be meaningful, because therapies might be more effective when the tumor burden is relatively low and the tumor has not spread to distant sites. Circulating biomarkers in blood might be a promising tool to improve the early detection of mesothelioma, but for screening in asymptomatic subjects, candidate biomarkers need to be validated in appropriate studies. This study was conducted to assess the performance of biomarkers in liquid biopsies to detect mesothelioma at early stages. Over a period of 10 years, 2769 volunteers formerly exposed to asbestos were annually examined and liquid biopsies were collected. A follow-up was completed 17 months after the last blood collection. The article provides a detailed overview of our lessons learned and experiences of conducting a prospective, longitudinal, multicenter study. The existing cohort of individuals at risk is highly suitable for the validation of blood-based biomarkers for the early detection of mesothelioma as well as lung cancer.
间皮瘤是一种侵袭性癌症，与既往石棉暴露密切相关。该疾病通常在晚期阶段才被检测发现。早期检测具有重要意义，因为在肿瘤负荷相对较低且未发生远处转移时，治疗可能更为有效。血液中的循环生物标志物可能是改善间皮瘤早期检测前景的工具，但针对无症状人群的筛查，候选生物标志物需通过规范研究进行验证。本研究旨在评估液体活检生物标志物在早期检测间皮瘤中的效能。在为期10年的研究期间，对2769名曾有石棉暴露史的志愿者进行年度检查并采集液体活检样本，末次采血后完成17个月随访。本文详细阐述了开展此项前瞻性、纵向、多中心研究获得的经验与启示。现有高危人群队列非常适用于验证基于血液的生物标志物在间皮瘤及肺癌早期检测中的应用价值。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家