Blood Protein Levels Could Predict Liver Cancer Risk Years in Advance

Blood Protein Levels Could Predict Liver Cancer Risk Years in Advance
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Certain blood proteins detectable years before diagnosis could potentially serve as biomarkers for predicting liver cancer, according to a new study. This discovery could offer new hope for a cancer often diagnosed at a late stage when treatment options are typically limited.

“ Liver cancer rates are rapidly increasing, and liver cancer has a high mortality rate,” Xinyuan Zhang, postdoctoral research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the study’s lead author, said in a press release. “But if we can diagnose it early, therapeutic interventions can be potentially curative.”

Early Detection Key to Improving Survival Rates

Approximately 36,000 Americans are diagnosed with liver cancer annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The disease has a high mortality rate, claiming the lives of 19,000 men and 9,000 women each year.
A.C. Dahnke
A.C. Dahnke
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A.C. Dahnke is a freelance writer and editor residing in California. She has covered community journalism and health care news for nearly a decade, winning a California Newspaper Publishers Award for her work.