Cancer-Researched fruit flies smell cancer cells

Cancer Research: Fruit flies can smell cancer cells

01/12/2014

Scientists from the universities of Constance and Rome have found that fruit flies with their sense of smell can detect cancer cells in humans. The findings could contribute to improved cancer diagnosis in the future.

Flies can distinguish between healthy and diseased cells
A research group around the neurobiologist and zoologist Prof. dr. In an international cooperation project, Giovanni Galizia was able to demonstrate for the first time that fruit flies can differentiate between cancer cells and healthy cells through their sense of smell. The scientists of the University of Konstanz and the University La Sapienza in Rome published their results in the international science magazine „Scientific Report“ in Nature-Verlag. („“) Thus, fruit flies of the genus Drosophila can not only distinguish between healthy and diseased cells by their scent receptors, but also classify which group of cancer the ulcer belongs.

Genetically modified fruit flies
„What is new and spectacular about this result is the combination of an objective, specific and quantifiable laboratory result with the extremely high sensitivity of a natural animal, which can not be achieved through artificial nasal or gas chromatography“, Giovanni Galizia explained. For the test series, the antennae of the flies were used, on whose receptor neurons individual odor molecules bind and thus activate the neurons. Five different breast cancer cell lines were compared to healthy cells, resulting in distinctly different patterns of fly neuron activity. In an imaging technique developed by the researchers, the different scent molecules produce different patterns of activated neurons. The scientists used genetically modified animals in which the corresponding activity fluoresces under the microscope.

Basic work for cancer diagnosis
Dr. Alja Lüdke, member of the research group and scientist at the University of Konstanz, explained: „Since not only diseased and healthy cells can be distinguished, but also subgroups within the cancer cells were recognizable, even different breast cancer cell types seem to be differentiable via the antenna of the Drosophila.“ For the neurobiologist Galizia, the insights gained represent a crucial groundwork for cancer diagnosis: „The high sensitivity of the natural scent receptors coupled with the speed with which we obtain these test results could allow us to develop a very inexpensive, fast and highly efficient pre-screening that may detect cancer cells long before we use them in previous diagnostic imaging procedures can recognize.“

Even dogs sniff cancer
It has long been known that other animals can detect cancer by the smell. For example, studies have shown that dogs can sniff various cancers, such as skin, breast and colon cancers, from the patient's breath, urine or stool. In recent years, studies from Germany and Austria have shown that the four-legged friends can also recognize lung cancer because of their pronounced sense of smell. (Ad)