This blood test can detect cancer years before symptoms appear – BGR

• Diagnosing cancer years before the onset of symptoms may soon be possible, new research shows.
• A large research project launched in 2007 has already shown promising results. Scientists can detect cancers of the stomach, esophagus, colorectal, lungs, and liver in a single blood test for up to four years before symptoms occur.
• Early detection of cancer will increase the amount of time patients and doctors have to treat malignant tumors, prevent the spread of cancer cells throughout the body, and reduce mortality.

Almost 635,000 As of Thursday morning, it killed about 15.48 million new coronaviruses. Millions more will be infected and thousands will continue to die. Add to it Millions of unemployed people, And you end up with only a partial picture of the complex mess that has become 2020. But there is good news in the dark about COVID-19 and other illnesses.

The latest notable medical development is about cancer, and researchers have devised a test that can detect several types of cancer up to four years before the onset of symptoms. When accurate, such tests can help diagnose the most common types of cancer and prepare patients and their doctors to treat the disease.

International team of scientists Natural communication, Their assay illustrates that gastric, esophageal, colorectal, lung, and liver cancers can be diagnosed with the help of a single blood sample. Results may be available for up to 4 years before the patient begins to develop symptoms.

“We have shown that there are already signatures in their blood that indicate that these people have cancer for up to four years before they enter the hospital.” Said Scientific american.. “Never done before.”

Unlike past efforts that involved testing blood samples from people already diagnosed with cancer, Zhang and his team took a new approach. Researchers began collecting samples from humans before symptoms appeared, rather than looking for DNA in the blood to find malignant growth in the body.

The project started in 2007 and researchers recruited over 123,000 volunteers from Taizhou, China. They had an annual medical checkup, which included collecting blood samples. A special warehouse has been created to store over 1.6 million specimens. About 1,100 participants developed cancer over the next 10 years, after which researchers researched some of the samples they collected looking for cancer signals

Researchers have created a test called PanSeer that detects methylation patterns that may be associated with different types of cancer. It is a chemical process involving compounds that interact with DNA to alter genetic activity.

This test measures DNS methylation at 500 locations in a blood sample. This is a position previously identified as a potential cancer signal. Next, machine algorithms were used to determine a score that indicated the likelihood of developing cancer.

The researchers tested a sample of 191 participants who eventually developed cancer and 191 healthy people in the group. Tests have shown that it can predict cancer for up to 4 years before the onset of symptoms. Scientists say the test has an accuracy of 90% and a false positive rate of 5%.

More research is needed to validate the study, but it looks like a big step in the right direction. Such tests give serious warning to patients that they may develop cancer in the next few years, and help screen all types of cancer that the PanSeer test covers before symptoms appear. .. The doctors they treat were able to devise treatment regimens prior to their tumor debut and save more lives.

There is some promise before the PanSeer test will become widely available. Even with regulatory approval, testing does not always work as intended and does not work for all types of cancer. “There are cancers where early detection can make a huge difference,” Zhang said, and pancreatic cancer is his team’s next target of study.

Current estimates indicate that about 1.8 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer and more than 606,000 will die this year. that is To NIH data, And does not consider the impact of COVID-19 on cancer survivors. Estimate From the American Cancer Society In 2018, 17 million new cases were diagnosed worldwide, killing 9.5 million that year. By 2040, it is estimated that 27.5 million new cancer cases will be detected each year and 16.3 million will die. Blood tests like PanSeer can change all these numbers and can significantly reduce mortality. Finally, this type of test can be important for future COVID-19 management. Cancer patients are at risk of developing COVID-19 complications and that risk will not disappear once treatment is available.

Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it, he shared his views on technology-related things with readers around the world. When I’m not talking about gadgets, I try hard, but I’m trying to stay away from gadgets. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.