Now a simple blood test will help detect Cancer
To make matter of waiting and anticipating easy for millions of Cancer patients across the world, Scientists have discovered a simple blood test that can detect a potentially deadly cancer cell hiding among billions of healthy cells.
This they believe would certainly ease down the waiting and wondering for the patients.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have teamed up with Johnson and Johnson to develop and market a blood test for cancer.
Initially, doctors want to use the test to try to predict what treatments would be best for each patient's tumour and find out quickly if they are working.
The Potential
Stray cancer cells in the blood mean that a tumor has spread or is likely to, many doctors believe. A test that can capture such cells has the potential to transform care for many types of cancer, especially breast, prostate, colon and lung.
Baylor-Irving oncologist Anand Shivnani believes the breakthrough has lots of potential.
"For a long time we've had to rely on physical exams and CT scans and other types of scans to follow patients," Dr. Shivnani said.
CellSearch is only one test in the market now to find tumour cells in blood, but that just gives the cell count.
This test is more powerful than the CellSearch and traps the blood cells intact. It requires a couple of drops of blood and can be done repeatedly to monitor treatment or determine why a drug has stopped working and what else can be tried.
Doctors can give a drug one day and sample blood the next day to see if the tumour cells are gone.
How does it work?
• The test uses a microchip that resembles a lab slide covered in 78,000 tiny posts, like bristles on hairbrush, coated with antibodies which bind to tumour cells.
• When blood is forced across the chip, cells ping off the posts like balls in a pinball machine. The cancer cells stick, and stains make them glow so docs can count and capture them for study.
"The technology appears to be very promising and exciting," said Physician Suresh Ramalingam, of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology. "Even before your tumor is visible, if you can detect those few circulating tumor cells" in the blood, then you know something is wrong and then start looking exactly where those cells are coming from.It could be years away, for sure,” he added.
This they believe would certainly ease down the waiting and wondering for the patients.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have teamed up with Johnson and Johnson to develop and market a blood test for cancer.
Initially, doctors want to use the test to try to predict what treatments would be best for each patient's tumour and find out quickly if they are working.
The Potential
Stray cancer cells in the blood mean that a tumor has spread or is likely to, many doctors believe. A test that can capture such cells has the potential to transform care for many types of cancer, especially breast, prostate, colon and lung.
Baylor-Irving oncologist Anand Shivnani believes the breakthrough has lots of potential.
"For a long time we've had to rely on physical exams and CT scans and other types of scans to follow patients," Dr. Shivnani said.
CellSearch is only one test in the market now to find tumour cells in blood, but that just gives the cell count.
This test is more powerful than the CellSearch and traps the blood cells intact. It requires a couple of drops of blood and can be done repeatedly to monitor treatment or determine why a drug has stopped working and what else can be tried.
Doctors can give a drug one day and sample blood the next day to see if the tumour cells are gone.
How does it work?
• The test uses a microchip that resembles a lab slide covered in 78,000 tiny posts, like bristles on hairbrush, coated with antibodies which bind to tumour cells.
• When blood is forced across the chip, cells ping off the posts like balls in a pinball machine. The cancer cells stick, and stains make them glow so docs can count and capture them for study.
"The technology appears to be very promising and exciting," said Physician Suresh Ramalingam, of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology. "Even before your tumor is visible, if you can detect those few circulating tumor cells" in the blood, then you know something is wrong and then start looking exactly where those cells are coming from.It could be years away, for sure,” he added.
