Detection of novel biomarkers for mesothelioma and development of novel therapeutic agents

人类恶性胸膜间皮瘤(MPM)是一种侵袭性(致命性)肺癌，常与石棉接触有关。通常情况下，最初接触病毒20-40年后才会出现症状，预期寿命为12-18个月。考虑到石棉在20世纪和这段漫长的潜伏期内的广泛使用，MPM病例继续上升也就不足为奇了。因此，迫切需要开发新的治疗方法来治疗MPM。目前，早期诊断是一个重大问题，因为只有在出现症状时，才有可能通过活检进行早期诊断。该项目建议利用位于萨里大学的离子束中心的资源，研究用于间皮瘤早期诊断的新生物标记物，并将研究呼气分析和指纹分析以及组织和肿瘤的生物标记物。

Human malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive (fatal) lung cancer which is always associated with asbestos exposure. Typically symptoms do not appear until 20-40 years after the original exposure, with life expectancy then 12-18 months. Given the widespread use of asbestos during the 20th century and this long latency period, it is no surprise that cases of MPM continue to rise. Therefore there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutic approaches for the treatemnt of MPM.Currently, early diagnosis is a significant problem as it is only possible via biopsy and this normally only takes place once symptoms appear. The project proposes to investigate novel biomarkers for the early diagnosis of mesothelioma, utilising the resources at the Ion Beam Centre located at the University of Surrey and will look at breath analysis and fingerprint analysis as well as biomarkers from tissues and tumours.