Researchers have found specific blood-based biomarkers that distinguish inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) from other breast cancer subtypes. They reported the work in Science Advances. The team used a novel RNA sequencing method known as TGIRT sequencing, which employs a thermostable enzyme able to work with complex and fragmented RNA.
Clinical samples and pathological insight came from collaborators at UT MD Anderson, and TGIRT was developed by Alan Lambowitz’s group at The University of Texas at Austin. The researchers developed methods to analyse protein-coding genes specific to IBC tumors.
They found that blood from IBC patients had higher levels of noncoding RNAs and higher white blood cell counts than blood from healthy or non-IBC patients. In plasma, IBC samples contained many intron RNA fragments, whereas healthy plasma mostly carried mRNA fragments. The pattern suggests immune activation and problems in RNA splicing that reduce mRNA production. These biomarkers may improve diagnosis, monitoring and therapy development for IBC.
Difficult words
- biomarker — a measurable substance indicating disease or conditionbiomarkers
- inflammatory — related to inflammation or swollen body tissue
- noncoding RNA — RNA that does not make a proteinnoncoding RNAs
- sequencing — determining the order of bases in RNA
- intron — a noncoding gene section removed during RNA processing
- splicing — process that removes introns from RNA
- plasma — the liquid part of blood without cells
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Discussion questions
- How could blood-based biomarkers change care for patients with breast cancer? Give one or two reasons.
- What do you think are the advantages of using a new sequencing method like TGIRT sequencing in medical research?
- The article mentions immune activation and splicing problems. How might this information affect future research or treatments?
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