惊奇！居然能用寄生虫检测癌症
日本九州大学等研究小组在11日的美国科学杂志PLOS ONE网络版上公布，已证实能够通过体长1毫米的线虫对人体尿液气味的反应精确判断是否患有癌症。检查费用每次100日元（约合人民币5.2元）至数百日元不等，约1个半小时后便可得出诊断结果。研究组正在与日立公司等合作研发这种检查装置，力争到2019年左右投入实际运用。由于可能发现以往的检查中无法查出的早期癌症，这项成果有望提高早期诊断和治疗效果。团队成员之一、神经学助教广津崇亮介绍说：“把在家中采集的1滴尿液送到检查机构，就可查到是否患有癌症。同时也能降低诊疗费。”线虫是生活在土壤及水中的微小生物，繁殖方式简单。据研究组关注，癌患者带有特殊气味，而嗅觉不亚于犬类的线虫对此气味有反应。该小组之后验证了线虫喜欢接近癌症患者尿液而对健康人群尿液避之不及的习性。在242人尿液反应测试中，24名癌症患者中23人结果呈阳性，218名健康人士中207人呈阴性，癌症确诊准确率高达95.8%，高于同时进行的血液肿瘤标志物检查准确率。此外，5名癌症患者在尿检时尚未知晓病情，研究组认为这种方法还能发现早期癌症。现阶段尚无法检出癌症种类，但只对特定癌症产生反应的线虫的培育已取得成功，未来有望投入实际运用。曹兴午教授读后感：自然界有很多植物性线虫，生活在水中和土壤中，是很容易培养的一种线虫类，而且大都可以孤雌生殖，繁殖力非常强。1949-1951年在协和医学院寄生虫系，进行实验室培养，观察其生活史和与人类感染关系的研究。培养的方法非常简单，可以获得大量自由生活的线虫。这一项结果提示我们，要广阔思路、开展研究，也许“偶然中孕育着必然”，预示对人类的贡献。
A highly accurate inclusive cancer screening test using Caenorhabditis elegans scent detection.
作者T Hirotsu，H Sonoda，T Uozumi，Y Shinden，K Mimori，...摘要Early detection and treatment are of vital importance to the successful eradication of various cancers, and development of economical and non-invasive novel cancer screening systems is critical. Previous reports using canine scent detection demonstrated the existence of cancer-specific odours. However, it is difficult to introduce canine scent recognition into clinical practice because of the need to maintain accuracy. In this study, we developed a Nematode Scent Detection Test (NSDT) using Caenorhabditis elegans to provide a novel highly accurate cancer detection system that is economical, painless, rapid and convenient. We demonstrated wild-type C. elegans displayed attractive chemotaxis towards human cancer cell secretions, cancer tissues and urine from cancer patients but avoided control urine; in parallel, the response of the olfactory neurons of C. elegans to the urine from cancer patients was significantly stronger than to control urine. In contrast, G protein 伪 mutants and olfactory neurons-ablated animals were not attracted to cancer patient urine, suggesting that C. elegans senses odours in urine. We tested 242 samples to measure the performance of the NSDT, and found the sensitivity was 95.8%; this is markedly higher than that of other existing tumour markers. Furthermore, the specificity was 95.0%. Importantly, this test was able to diagnose various cancer types tested at the early stage (stage 0 or 1). To conclude, C. elegans scent-based analyses might provide a new strategy to detect and study disease-associated scents.
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