Now, simple blood test to detect cervical cancer

A team of researchers have found a more convenient, less intrusive test for detecting and staging cervical cancer.

The team, led by Nichola Garbett, from University of Louisville, has confirmed that using the heat profile from a person's blood, called a plasma thermogram, can serve as an indicator for the presence or absence of cervical cancer, including the stage of cancer.

To generate a plasma thermogram, a blood plasma sample is "melted" producing a unique signature indicating a person's health status. This signature represents the major proteins in blood plasma, measured by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC).

The team demonstrated that the plasma thermogram profile varies when a person has or does not have the disease. The team believes that molecules associated with the presence of disease, called biomarkers, can affect the thermogram of someone with cervical disease.

They used mass spectrometry to show that biomarkers associated with cervical cancer existed in the plasma.

"The key is not the actual melting temperature of the thermogram, but the shape of the heat profile," Garbett said. "We have been able to establish thermograms for a number of diseases. Comparing blood samples of patients who are being screened or treated against those thermograms should enable us to better monitor patients as they are undergoing treatment and follow-up. This will be a chance for us to adjust treatments so they are more effective."

The study was published in journal PLOS ONE.