"Smoke detector" for early cancer diagnosis

A new test detects cancer long before its symptoms appear

Yaroslav Agafonnikov, RIA AMI

A group of researchers from Swansea University (UK) has announced the development of a new blood test method with which cancer can be detected earlier than ever before. According to scientists (cited in the press release of Swansea University New test could revolutionize cancer diagnosis - VM), this test will revolutionize cancer diagnosis and help save millions of lives, because such an early diagnosis will make cancer treatment much more effective.

This analysis will reveal the onset of cancer long before the symptoms of the disease can be diagnosed by conventional methods, which makes it possible to use it effectively in risk groups or in the detection of asymptomatic forms of cancer. The test takes several hours, and can be performed in any outpatient facility, since it requires the most common laboratory equipment.

According to the head of the scientific group, Professor Gareth Jenkins, the test detects mutations in proteins that are located on the surface of red blood cells. These enzymes work like "Velcro", gluing the necessary proteins to their surface, but during oncomutations they lose this ability, Staining cells with fluorescent antibodies allows you to determine the presence or absence of a certain group of proteins on the surface of blood cells and calculate the ratio of normal and mutated cells, after which this ratio is compared with the norm. In healthy people, on average, about 5 mutated erythrocytes per million are detected, but in patients with cancer, their number can increase more than 10 times, up to 50-100 mutants per million. In patients undergoing chemotherapy, the number of mutated red blood cells reaches several hundred per million nuclear-free cells.

Note that mutations of red blood cells do not play a direct role in the development of cancer. Professor Jenkins called this phenomenon "collateral damage" arising as a by-product of the internal development of oncology. In this case, the scientist noted, this is a good combination, since thanks to it it is possible to determine the onset of the disease in a simple, effective and non-invasive way.

"Our test is somewhat similar to a "smoke detector", - said Professor Jenkins. – It does not detect the presence of fire in the house, but reacts to a by–product – smoke. Our test also detects cancer by reacting to "smoke" – mutating blood cells, because as there is no smoke without fire, so there is no cancer without mutation, since mutation is the main driving force for the development of any oncological disease."

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  08.09.2016