In 2019, a study published in Oncotarget showed a C. elegans cancer screening test could detect pancreatic tumors in mice. In 2021, a team of researchers from Osaka University and Hirotsu Bio Science Inc. sought to employ this clinical tactic in the context of early pancreatic cancer detection in humans. Their paper was published as the cover of Oncotarget’s Volume 12, Issue, 17, and entitled, “Scent test using Caenorhabditis elegans to screen for early-stage pancreatic cancer.”
“Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the deadliest diseases, with a five-year survival rate of 9%.”
In this study, 83 pancreatic cancer patients from clinics in Japan participated in an open-label pilot study. Participant age, sex, pathological progression, CA19-9 values, CEA values, and urine samples were collected. All data were entered into statistical analysis. Multiple concentrations and pre- and post-surgery urine were tested using the C. elegans scent test. The researchers used a well-established olfaction analysis method and simple system for observing chemotaxis called N-NOSE (Nematode-NOSE).
The assayers placed the urine in two spots on one end of the assay plates and added sodium azide in two spots on both sides. The nematodes were placed in the center of the plates and observed for 30 minutes. The engaging behavior of C. elegans toward “favorite” smells suggested a positive chemotaxis index. The samples were assayed and analyzed to assess for the presence of positive peaks in average chemotaxis indices. They found that the C. elegans gravitated toward cancer-associated scents and that this chemotaxis index could be a sensitive marker to detect early-stage pancreatic cancer.
“Given the success of the scent test in determining the presence of pancreatic cancer in patients with PDAC who showed various progressions before and after surgery, a blinded study was conducted to determine the ability of the scent test to distinguish between patients with early-stage PDAC and healthy volunteers […]”
Full blog - https://www.oncotarget.org/2021/08/18/new-study-how-worms-can-detect-early-pancreatic-cancer/
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DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28035
Full text - https://www.oncotarget.com/article/28035/text/
Correspondence to - Hideshi Ishii - hishii@gesurg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
Keywords - Caenorhabditis elegans, early-stage pancreatic cancer, scent test, biomarker, diagnosis
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