WGHI-supported research could lead to blood tests for early breast cancer diagnoses
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Using a highly promising approach to speed breast cancer diagnostics, researcher W. Andy Tao of the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research is studying how specific blood particles could be used to catch BRCA-related breast cancer before any tumor growth.
The research could transform early breast cancer screening — offering hope and a potential lifeline to millions of women worldwide with BRCA gene mutations. The project’s innovative technique is not only highly sensitive but ready to be adapted for clinical use, potentially making early breast cancer detection quicker, easier and more reliable than ever.
Tao, professor of chemical biology and analytical chemistry in the College of Science and professor of biochemistry in the College of Agriculture, is leading the study of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the blood that act as molecular messengers containing vital cellular information and have the potential to expose hidden tumors long before they show up on typical scans.
The Purdue Women’s Global Health Institute and the Catherine Peachey Fund have awarded Tao and his team $15,000 for the current study. Both support promising breast cancer research that is best positioned to move from the bench to clinic.
Tao’s team is homing in on proteins inside the EVs, particularly proteins with special chemical tags known as post-translational modifications (PTMs). These provide critical clues about the state of the body’s cells, including the possible presence of cancer. By combining mass spectrometry with machine learning, the PTMs can be detected with a few drops of blood, thereby spotting BRCA-related breast cancer in high-risk patients before the cancer has a chance to grow.
The current study builds on previous published works of Tao’s: a 2023 study published by the journal of the German Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie, that demonstrated the detection of a rare brain cancer in blood; and a 2017 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which was the first to report the identification of cancer-related phosphoproteins from EVs in breast cancer patients.
The Catherine Peachey Fund was established in memory of Peachey, one of the founders of the Indiana Breast Cancer Coalition. The joint WGHI-Peachey program provides annual research funding for a variety of disciplines addressing prevention, early detection and treatment of breast cancer. The next call for proposals will be posted at the WGHI website in December.
Tao also serves by courtesy in the Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology in the College of Pharmacy.
Source: Luanne Bermel, lmi@purdue.edu