Researchers in England describe an incredible
new blood test that may allow doctors to discern between patients with and
without cancer.
by John
Tyburski
Copyright © Daily
Digest News, KPR Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
The holy
grail in cancer detection is a test, or “biomarker,” that can be acquired from
patients with minimal invasiveness but that tells doctors whether cancer is
present or not with high accuracy and precision. This week, researchers at the
University of Bradford in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, reported on a new
blood test that may allow cancer medicine to take a large step toward this
goal.
The researchers
call their test the Lymphocyte Genome Sensitivity test. The test examines the
DNA of white blood cells for damage after exposure of the cells to ultraviolet
light. White blood cells from patients with cancer exhibit damage patterns that
are different from those of cells from patients with no cancers.
The test may
one day allow doctors to discern between patients with certain cancer-like
symptoms but who do not have cancer or precancerous lesions from those who do.
Accurate screening for cancer will help identify who needs treatment and who
does not, reducing unnecessary medical procedures and costs.
“These are
early results completed on three different types of cancer and we accept that
more research needs to be done,” explained Professor Diana Anderson,
co-author of the report. “But these results so far are remarkable.”
The study
was small by epidemiological standards, but the sensitivity and specificity of
the test to correctly identify three types of cancer, melanoma, colon, and lung
cancer, were both almost 100 percent.
“Whilst the
numbers of people we tested are, in epidemiological terms, quite small, in
molecular epidemiological terms, the results are powerful,” Anderson added.
The report was published this week in The Journal of the
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
No comments:
Post a Comment