[Diagnosis and monitoring of malignant diseases with thermoanalytical measurement of one drop blood].

The World Health Organization's survey indicates that cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. The identification of early markers and the early detection of asymptomatic tumors remain the most critical objectives for effective treatment and improved survival. Human blood sample analysis is a noninvasive technique used in patient care and cancer research. Currently, certain genes, gene products and tumor markers measured in blood are routinely used for diagnosis and monitoring. The thermoanalytical examination of the human blood plasma proteome is a promising new area, where blood sampling can be considered a type of liquid biopsy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) directly measures the stability and decomposition of proteins, lipids, or nucleic acids during a controlled increase or decrease in temperature, allowing the study of individual substances in their native and denatured states. This thermoanalytical DSC curve of a biomolecule or biostructure is unique, like a fingerprint, and shows normal or pathomorphological changes under specific circumstances. Various clinical conditions (malignant melanoma, breast tumor, pancreatic tumor) showed unique but disease-specific DSC thermograms obtained from measurements of patients' blood plasma, which correlated with disease severity, progression, or response to treatment. Following further development, deconvolution analysis of blood plasma DSC curves raises the possibility of early diagnosis of cancerous or inflammatory conditions, disease monitoring, or testing the effectiveness of therapy used from a single drop of blood. Orv Hetil. 2026; 167(3): 98-108.