Innovative Liquid Biopsy Test Uses RNA to Detect Early-Stage Cancer

Detecting and diagnosing cancer, particularly in its early stages, remains a significant challenge. Liquid biopsies offer a promising non-invasive alternative to traditional biopsies, which require removing tissue samples. However, current liquid biopsies rely on circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA), which is often in limited amounts during the early stages of cancer, making early detection difficult. This issue hampers accurate diagnosis and timely treatment, as the lack of cfDNA in the bloodstream makes it harder to detect the disease in its early phases. Researchers have now developed a more sensitive liquid biopsy test that uses circulating cell-free RNA (cfRNA) instead of cfDNA, allowing for the detection of colorectal cancer at its earliest stages with much higher accuracy.

The new liquid biopsy test, developed by researchers from the University of Chicago (Chicago, IL, USA), focuses on measuring RNA modifications instead of simply quantifying RNA or DNA. The research team, inspired by previous research in plants, studied the biological functions of RNA modifications, which remain relatively stable regardless of the amount of RNA present. This breakthrough allowed them to detect changes in the microbiome's RNA as well as cfRNA from human cells. The researchers used blood samples from colorectal cancer patients and successfully analyzed modifications in RNA to detect cancerous activity. The test works by measuring RNA modifications that reflect cellular activity, and its ability to detect early-stage cancer is significantly higher than current commercial methods.

Image: The sensitive liquid biopsy test that uses RNA instead of DNA for detecting cancer (Courtesy of Adobe Stock)

The test was validated using blood samples from colorectal cancer patients, demonstrating nearly 95% accuracy in detecting early-stage cancer. This improvement over existing commercial tests, which drop below 50% accuracy in the early stages of the disease, positions this method as a potential game-changer for early cancer diagnosis. The findings, published in Nature Biotechnology, suggest that RNA modifications could serve as a reliable biomarker for cancer detection. The researchers plan to further refine the test and explore its broader application across various types of cancer.

“This is the first time RNA modifications have been used as a potential biomarker for cancer, and it looks to be much more reliable and sensitive compared to RNA abundance,” said Chuan He, PhD. “Being able to detect the cancer at those early stages is unprecedented.”