Harvard: There has been good news in the diagnosis of cancer that experts have devised a blood test that can identify about 50 types of cancer.
Thanks to this blood test, many types of cancers can be identified even before their initial symptoms, because it senses even the smallest particles and chemicals that cause cancer in the blood. After extensive use, it will pave the way for timely treatment and save precious lives.
The best part of this blood test is that it is claimed to have 99 accuracy regarding its efficacy. However, a preliminary report published in the Annals of Oncology called for more research by the scientists who produced it.
The technology is jointly developed by the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. To date, it has been tested on over 4,000 different patients with cancer being diagnosed at an early stage.
In this blood test, DNA isolated from the cells is noted which may be a symptom of cancer. These DNA breaks apart from the very early messengers and become involved in the blood. Thousands of blood samples were taken, including both cancer patients and healthy individuals.
Through this test, cancer of the lungs, gastric, ovarian and other types can be identified. Initial surveys yielded accurate results of up to 96%. Professor Jeff Oxnard, who is involved in the study, says the test can be easily used to screen for dozens of types of cancer in a large part of the population.
After this success, at the first stage of its trial the human race has begun. But before reaching any conclusions, traditional tests other than blood tests will be performed in these patients.
Other cancer specialists have called this test a welcome one, and after years of hard work, blood cancer detection is becoming a reality.
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