How biomarkers can identify cancer in its early stages

My name is Emmanuel Okwelogu and I am a PhD Researcher in the University of Manchester working in the Nanomedicine Lab. The overall goal of my research is to discover new cancer biomarkers that can aid in the detection of cancer at the really early stages. Now, as we know, cancer is one of the leading causes of deaths, especially for noncommunicable diseases. And although we've come up with revolutionary ways of trying to fight cancer using novel medicines and therapies, we're still not totally winning the battle against cancer. Now this is because for some cancers, for example lung cancer and glioblastoma, we do not have markers that could aid in the diagnosis of the cancer at the really early stages. So my project is aimed at discovering those molecules known as biomarkers that can aid in the detection of the cancers at the really early stages. So a very interesting project which I am working on is the utilization of two-dimensional nanomaterials, for example graphene oxide, to find possible biomarkers in the secretions of cancer cells. Now one of the challenges in conventional biomarker discovery studies is the complexity and the poor specificity encountered when trying to find biomarkers in the blood. Now the blood is very rich in biomarkers, but unfortunately there are also a lot of other biomolecules present in the blood. And also, those biomarkers are in low abundance, making trying to find them in the blood very difficult. So in my project, we will be analyzing what the cancer cells are secreting into the environment and also using a nanoparticle protein enrichment technology developed in my team, which is the NanoOmics team of the Nanomedicine Lab, to isolate those cancer-specific protein molecules that could serve as biomarkers. Now the proteins isolated from this process would then be identified using mass spectrometry and analyzed using different bioinformatic protein techniques in order to identify these potential cancer-specific biomarkers. Now the protein markers then identified would be validated using patient tissue samples and also the blood samples. So a key feature of my work is the use of biological safety cabinets to culture the cancer cells in a 3D environment and harvest their secretions. Now this process is made very easy using the new air flow technology which we use in our lab. Now the new air flow technology is very easy to operate, and it also provides a constant flow that prevents contamination of my cells and also their secretion. For my work, biosafety is extremely essential, as any form of contamination in the initial stages of my project can affect the downstream biomarker discovery, and subsequent translation of my research. So for example, in a scenario whereby I am performing my experiments in a non-biosafety environment, and I release pathogens from my mouth or my nose into my cells, the proteins that my cells would be secreting would be in response to the pathogens that I am releasing. And so downstream, when I am trying to validate these proteins I have discovered from my cell secretion, I wouldn't be able to validate them, resulting in failure in the validation process of my research. Hence, at the initial stages, biosafety is extremely important to prevent contamination. In the future, I am looking forward to not only discovering new biomarkers for lung cancer and glioblastoma, but also developing the technology which other researchers can utilize to overcome the current challenges in biomarker discovery research. Now this would ultimately lead to a new wave of next-generation, highly-specific biomarker for early diagnosis of cancer, and ultimately save a lot of lives.