Tear Proteins

Diabetes, breast and prostate cancer affect the lives of enormous numbers of people. Early detection of these diseases is crucial to giving patients the best chance of successful therapeutic treatments. The Institute is investigating the possibility of using tears secreted from the eye to diagnose these diseases at an early stage.

The potential use of the tear film as a diagnostic tool offers several advantages over existing methods such as x-ray, biopsy and blood tests. Taking a tear film sample is a simple, quick and non-invasive procedure. Given the simplicity of the sampling procedure, it is also more cost-effective. Accuracy is also a factor. With a biopsy test for cancer, for example, the tumour needs to be large enough for the test to be reliable, meaning the condition is more advanced.

This project is also investigating the diagnosis and prevention of conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, a serious complication of diabetes which can lead to blindness. By discovering biomarkers that indicate which group of diabetes patients will develop these complications, it is possible to use some form of treatment to stop or slow its progress before signs are observed from the retina of the eye.

Investigators

Project Leader
Dr Zhenjun Zhao

Ms Amali Ariyavidana
Prof Mark Wilcox

Collaborators

The Institute has been fortunate to have the cooperation of subjects from the cancer and diabetes clinics at the Prince of Wales Hospital and subjects from the School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW, who have participated in the tear film studies.

Minomic Pty Ltd and the Sydney Urology Centre at St George Hospital has been an important collaborator on the prostate and breast cancer studies. Southern Cross University have assisted in the analysis of tear proteins from patients as part of the diabetes study.

Diabetes Australia (NSW division) and the Optometrists Association Australia were instrumental in helping to strengthen our diabetes research.

Prof Paul Cozzi – St George Hospital
Dr Anna Fitzgerald – Minomic Pty Ltd
Dr Yong Li – St George Hospital
Mr Andrew McKinnon – Optometrists Association Australia NSW
Assoc Prof Carol Morris – Southern Cross University
Ms Liz Peers – Diabetes Australia NSW
Mr David Pye – School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of NSW
Prof Pamela Russell – Minomic Pty Ltd
Dr Brad Walsh – Minomic Pty Ltd
Terry Nguyen-Khuong – School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of NSW (PhD Student)

Facilities

The Institute utilises its biochemistry laboratory extensively for this research. We also have access to state-of-the-art proteomic equipment at our collaborators Minomic and University of NSW.