Mesothelioma Patients Had High SMR

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Scientists Working on Blood Test to Detect Mesothelioma

November 21, 2003 — Blood serum concentrations of a marker called soluble mesothelin–related protein (SMR) were higher in patients with mesothelioma than in control groups, according to a joint U.S.–Australian study (Lancet, Vol. 362, No. 9396, Nov. 15, 2003). This finding may eventually lead to the use of a blood test in mesothelioma diagnosis, the researchers say.

The study involved taking serum samples from 272 people. Forty–four members of this group had been diagnosed with mesothelioma based on histology or microscopic analysis. Sixty–eight samples came from matched healthy controls, of which 40 had been exposed to asbestos, and 28 had not. One hundred sixty participants were patients with inflammatory malignant lung and pleural diseases, but not mesothelioma.

Samples from 37 of the 44 mesothelioma patients showed high concentrations of SMR compared with only three out of 160 samples from patients with pleural diseases or malignant cancers other than mesothelioma. None of the 28 control samples from patients who had not been exposed to asbestos showed elevated SMR concentrations.

Seven of the 40 healthy individuals who had been exposed to asbestos had increased SMR concentrations. Out of these seven people, three later developed mesothelioma and one developed lung cancer within 1 to 5 years. The other 33 individuals who had normal SMR concentrations did not develop mesothelioma over an eight year follow–up period.

The researchers concluded that the SMR level in serum may prove to be a useful marker in mesothelioma diagnosis. They also believe that monitoring these levels may be helpful in following the progression of mesothelioma and in screening for early evidence of the disease.

Methods of Mesothelioma Diagnosis

The time period between a person’s first exposure to asbestos and the onset of mesothelioma, called the latency period, may be 40 years or more. Often, early symptoms such as shortness of breath are not specific for mesothelioma, making the disease difficult to diagnose.

Imaging techniques such as chest x–rays, CT scans, and MRI scans are ly used to detect mesothelioma. Positron emission tomography may also be helpful. Often, the physician must take tissue and fluid samples to make a more definitive mesothelioma diagnosis. This process may require minor surgery. If perfected, a simple blood test such as determining SMR serum levels could lessen the necessity for using more invasive techniques in mesothelioma diagnosis.

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