Scientists Reveal Cancer's Atomic Secrets—'Whole New Layer to Medicine'

How could geology help us spot cancer?

It sounds like an unlikely pairing, but scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder and Princeton University have, for the very first time, applied tools often used in geology to detect cancer at an atomic level. The discovery offers an exciting opportunity for early cancer diagnosis, potentially improving survival outcomes for thousands of patients.

For decades, geologists and climate scientists have studied the natural distribution of hydrogen atoms to gain insight into prehistoric climates and geological processes. And this is possible because hydrogen exists in two main "flavors" (which are scientifically known as isotopes). The first isotope is what we tend to refer to when we think of hydrogen, but there is another isotope called deuterium which is slightly heavier.

In nature, there is a lot more "standard" hydrogen compared to deuterium. But the exact ratio between these atoms depends on various environmental factors. This makes isotope ratios a great way to study past climates and rock formations, but what can it tell us about our own bodies?

In a new study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team lead by CU Boulder geochemist Ashley Maloney set about investigating how these hydrogen ratios change within growing biological organisms.

By studying these ratios in yeast and mouse liver cells, the team found that cells that were growing extremely fast, similar to cancer cells, contained a noticeably higher ratio of hydrogen to deuterium (that is, a significant shortage of deuterium compared to normal cells.)

"When we started the study, I thought, 'Ooh, we have a chance to see something cool,'" Maloney said in a statement. "It ended up creating a huge signal, which I didn't expect."

The research is still in its early stages, but these results imply that these hydrogen-deuterium ratios could act as an atomic "fingerprint" for cancer cells, making early tumor growth easier to spot.

"Your chances of survival are so much higher if you catch cancer early on," co-author Sebastian Kopf said in a statement. "If this isotopic signal is strong enough that you could detect it through something like a blood test, that could give you an important hint that something is off."

The technique still needs to be demonstrated in a human patient, but these findings offer an exciting avenue for future cancer diagnostics.

"This study adds a whole new layer to medicine, giving us the chance to look at cancer at the atomic level," Maloney said.

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