Could we soon be able to detect cancer in 10 minutes?

In 2016, Illumina, DNA sequency company, created Silicon Valley-based spin-off company backed by more than $1.5bn in funding, including money from Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, found how to detect multiple types of cancer before symptoms, via a single, simple blood test. The test looks at cell-free plasma to find fragments of so-called circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) or liquid biopsy sloughed off by cancer cells.

Detecting cancer sooner – before symptoms – means you can intervene earlier, and people are less likely to die. While doctors can screen for breast, colon and lung cancer, most varieties of the disease can only be detected after symptoms appear. And though it is far from the only approach, the beauty of blood test is that it is minimally invasive to collect. “A relatively simple blood-based test that can screen for evidence of cancer… and it might improve or even replace some screening programmes over time.

To date, there is one company offering a blood test based on ctDNA for early cancer detection: Epigenomics began offering its test for colon cancer in 2016 based on detecting biochemical modification of a single gene.

But the dream being imagined byIllumina and others is an inexpensive test, perhaps no more than $500, which could conceivably be given annually to those over a certain age, with a high chance of detecting many cancers at once with high accuracy. Best detection rates, based on a prototype test for detecting epigenetic changes, ranged from 80% down to 47% for nine cancers (respectively ovarian, liver, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, pancreatic, colorectal, oesophageal, head and neck and lung). Breast cancer ranged from 56% to 11% depending on the type.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/feb/24/the-10-minute-test-for-cancer-pioneering-methods-blood-test-detection-tumours-lung-breast-colorectal 

“Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.”

I wish all followers of Doctor Mendoza Cancer News Blog a very peaceful Merry Christmas

The use of biomarkers to target treatment improves patient outcomes by making earlier and more appropriate treatment selections, and the number of markers has increased dramatically in the past decade.  Breast cancer was highly segmented even in the early 2000s, but the addition of the BRCA 1/2 genetic marker further isolates responders to specific treatments.

 

Smoking causes more deaths each year than Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) + illegal drug use + Alcohol use + Motor vehicle injuries + Firearm-related incidents (combined!)

Interesting discovery: A dye will help neurosurgeons to get complete resection surgeries for brain tumors.

A new study in 99 patients with suspected high-grade (fast-growing) gliomas were colored after given a drink containing 5-ALA before surgery. "The beauty of 5-ALA is that neuro-surgeons can see where high-grade glioma is, while they're operating.". The use of 5-ALA  will help to get complete resection of the brain tumors and increase the chance of cur in these patients.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46073972#

Challenges of patients participating in clinical trials

 

A most recent comprehensive review found stronger evidence in support of corticosteroids to decrease "early treatment failure" in addition to the mortality benefit for severe pneumonia in adults. This was a controversial topic for years leading to the discontinuation of steroids in this setting. Although, this practice remained in Spain and there is a large number of oncologists using the steroids to treat complex lung infections with great outcome in immunoc-ompromised cancer patients.