Soluble Mesothelin-Related Peptides
Note: this site is for informational purposes only. To view test results or book a test, use the NHS app in England or contact your GP.
A soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP) test measures the level of mesothelin-related peptides in the blood using a blood sample taken from a vein in the arm. It is used to help support the diagnosis and monitoring of mesothelioma, a cancer often linked to asbestos exposure.
Why get tested?
To monitor progression or recurrence of a rare cancer called mesothelioma; this cancer affects the membranes that surround the lungs, heart, and abdominal cavity. Most cases of mesothelioma are associated with asbestos exposure.
When to get tested?
After you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, this test may be requested to follow response to treatment at anytime during or after treatment.
Sample required?
A blood sample taken from a vein in the arm.
Test preparation needed?
None
Common questions
This test is limited to patients who have already been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. It is not used to diagnose the disease. This test is most often used in conjunction with imaging tests such as positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) to:
- determine if you are responding to treatment,
- see if the disease has spread,
- determine if the disease has returned after you have been treated.
A doctor might request a series of SMRP tests to monitor progression of mesothelioma or its recurrence;
- after you have been diagnosed,
- after you have had surgery to remove tumour tissue in the chest cavity,
- during and/or after chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
If a series of blood tests show that SMRP concentrations are increasing, it may indicate that mesothelioma has progressed. If the series of tests indicate that SMRP concentrations are decreasing, you may be responding to therapy. If the concentrations remain unchanged, it may mean that your disease has stabilised
The interpretation of your SMRP test results will likely be done in conjunction with results from imaging studies. That’s because;
- the test does not always provide doctors with useful information. Patients with other cancers – including lung, ovarian endometrial, and pancreatic cancers – can have apparent elevated SMRP test results as a result of their cancers producing substances that interfere with the test.
- some patients with epithelial mesothelioma, a form of the disease that affects the cavity lining or membranes, do not produce SMRP.
This test is not used to screen for or diagnose mesothelioma but only used to monitor disease progression, regressionor recurrence. The diagnosis of this disease is often difficult and involves many steps. It usually begins with a review of the patient’s medical history, including a history of exposure to asbestos, and with a complete physical examination. These may be followed by imaging studies of the chest and abdomen, including X‑rays and computed tomography (CT) scans, and with lung function tests. Diagnosis may be confirmed by examining tissue from a biopsy or fluid from the affected area for malignant cells.
Asbestos is a heat- and fire-resistant insulating material that was widely used in construction, shipbuilding, and the automotive industry after 1945 through the 1970s. Workers breathed in the tiny fibres that comprise asbestos. Those fibres entered their pleura, the lining of the chest cavity and lung, and damaged its cells. Mesothelioma develops over a long period of between 15 and 60 years after exposure to asbestos Research has also shown that family members and others living with workers exposed to asbestos are at an increased risk of developing mesothelioma.
There is currently no reliable screening test for mesothelioma.