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Two studies by researchers at Oxford Population Health's Cancer Epidemiology Unit have found that proteins present in the blood may be able to predict a person's risk of developing some types of cancer more than seven years before they are diagnosed with the disease. The studies, which are published in Nature Communications, provide clues about how to identify people who are at high risk of developing cancer and could be used to develop strategies for prevention and treatment. In one of the studies, the researchers analysed blood samples provided by 44,000 participants in the UK Biobank. 4,900 of the 44,000 people had developed cancer at some point in their lives after their sample had been collected. The researchers looked at 1,463 proteins present in the blood samples. To find out which ones could be linked to cancer risk, they compared the results for people who did not develop cancer with the results for those who went on to develop cancer to see whether or not there were any differences between the proteins present. Key findings Dr Keren Papier, Senior Nutritional Epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health and joint lead author, said 'To save more lives from cancer, we need to better understand what happens at the earliest stages of the disease. Data from thousands of people with cancer has revealed really exciting insights into how the proteins in our blood can affect our risk of cancer. Now we need to study these proteins in depth to see which ones could be reliably used for prevention.' In the second study, the researchers looked at data from over 300,000 cancer cases to find out which blood proteins were involved in cancer development and could be targeted by new treatments. The scientists found 40 proteins in the blood that influenced someone's risk of getting nine different types of cancer. While altering the way that these proteins work may increase or decrease the chances of someone developing cancer, the scientists also found that in some cases this may lead to unintended side-effects. Dr Karl Smith-Byrne, Senior Molecular Epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health and a senior author of the first paper and first author of the second study, said 'We've predicted how the body might respond to drugs that target specific proteins, including any potential side-effects. Before any clinical trials take place, we have some early indications of which proteins we might avoid targeting because of unintended side-effects. This research brings us closer to being able to prevent cancer with targeted drugs - once thought impossible but now much more attainable.' The results of both studies, which were funded by Cancer Research UK, have demonstrated that some of these proteins could be used to detect cancer much earlier than is currently possible. This could help treat the disease at a much earlier stage or prevent it altogether. However, further research is needed to find out the exact role these proteins play in cancer development, which of the proteins are the most reliable ones to test for, what tests could be developed to detect the proteins in the clinic, and which drugs could target these proteins. Dr Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at CRUK said 'Preventing cancer means looking out for the earliest warning signs of the disease. That means intensive, painstaking research to find the molecular signals we should pay closest attention to. Discoveries from this research are the crucial first step towards offering preventative therapies which is the ultimate route for giving people longer, better lives, free from cancer.'