Researchers at the Federal University of Goiás have found that ear wax can be used in the diagnosis of several diseases, including cancer, and thus, it is possible that treatment is started in the early stages of the disease, increasing the possibility of cure, since the diagnosis can be made in just 5 hours.
The method in which ear wax is used for cancer diagnosis is called a cerumenogram and consists of collecting a small amount of ear wax that is sent to the laboratory for the substances that form it to be evaluated. This method is inexpensive, fast and accurate, having advantages not only in the detection of cancer but also in other diseases, however further studies are needed to validate the technique.
Why ear wax?
Ear wax, in addition to acting as protection against the entry of foreign bodies in the body, contains a series of substances that are products of metabolism, that is, that can indicate how the body is working, if the cells are healthy or if they exist altered cells that produce different substances, for example.
For this reason, ear wax was considered by researchers as a source of biomarkers for the health of the organism, and can be useful in the diagnosis of cancer, since tumor cells have a different regulatory mechanism than normal cells and can secrete different metabolites, which end up being identified in the wax.
How the study was done
The study was done by collecting 52 ear wax samples from people diagnosed with cancer and 50 samples from a control group made up of people who did not have the disease. After collection, the material went through a vaporization process and, from there, it was placed in an equipment so that it was possible to identify and separate the metabolites present in the wax.
From the results obtained, the researchers were able to observe the difference between the compounds present in the ear wax of cancer patients and people who did not have the disease, verifying that there were about 27 metabolites that were present in cancer.
These 27 metabolites were found in all cancer patients, to a lesser or greater extent, according to the type of neoplasia presented. Thus, these metabolites can be considered cancer biomarkers, being useful in the early diagnosis of the disease.
Main advantages of this technique
As it is a secretion naturally produced by the body, ear wax can be easily collected, making the method advantageous for the person, since the cerumenogram is not invasive and can identify the disease in just 5 hours.
In addition, this type of test is able to identify cancer at an early stage, which is one of the main benefits, since treatment can be started quickly and thus the chances of a cure can increase.
Despite being non-invasive, cheap, practical, fast and very accurate, this technique is not yet implemented in hospitals, as it has some limitations, such as the fact that it is not able to indicate the type and location of the tumor, which implies conducting other tests to define the most appropriate treatment, in addition to the need to compare the material obtained from patients with cancer and patients with other inflammatory diseases, since they may also show expression of these same metabolites. Because of this, new studies are being carried out with the aim of validating the technique and making it accessible to the population.
