Australian researchers have identified a diagnostic marker that could lead to a new blood test to monitor cancer patients.

According to a landmark study published on Tuesday, a team from Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) and La Trobe University discovered the new diagnostic marker.

They said the marker can be used to better detect levels of tissue damage in the human body.

The world-first research revealed the link between levels of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the blood and tissue damage caused by diseases such as leukaemia.

EVs are small particles released by all cells that distribute important materials, including proteins, fats and genetic information, to other cells.

Research into how they form and their link to the progression of diseases has proved challenging because of their small size but the new study was able to make a breakthrough by using high-resolution microscopy to image live EVs inside the bone marrow of mice.

“In this study, we have shown that the development of leukaemia can degrade healthy blood vessels in the bone marrow.

“Mice with extensive blood vessel damage in their bone marrow had elevated levels of EVs in their blood, while healthy mice did not.”

Georgia Atkin-Smith, first author of the study and WEHI cell biologist, said, “this revealed, for the first time, that there is a link between EVs in the blood and tissue damage during cancer.”

The team is hopeful that the discovery will lead to a new blood test to monitor cancer patients with tissue damage and enhanced treatment strategies for patients with blood cancers and other diseases.

The link between EVs and tissue damage was first theorised in 2018 by WEHI Laboratory Head Edwin Hawkins, a senior author of the study.

Through a collaboration with Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the research team is now investigating whether EVs can be used as a biomarker in acute myeloid leukaemia patients to assess the impact of the disease on healthy tissue and its progression. 

(Xinhua/ NAN)