Cancer can now be detected with the newly developed blood test, four years before its symptoms appear. The scientists who developed it claimed that the mortality rate could be reduced if it is proven effective. According to BGR's latest report, almost 635,000 people lost their lives to COVID-19, and nearly 15.48 million cases had been reported. Thus, forcing many medical experts to create different innovations that would help reduce the death cases.
The news outlet says more people may get infected, and thousands more will die from coronavirus. Despite the odds, there is still good news as many scientist have developed new blood tests and vaccines that could fight off not just the novel coronavirus and other severe diseases.
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There is a group of researchers that have developed a new blood test that can detect several types of cancer up to four years before signs even appear. If the new test was proven effective, it could help physicians prepare for their patient's treatment since some of the most common types of cancer can be diagnosed as soon as possible.
Scientists used a new approach to develop the blood test
Nature Communications published the international team of scientists' study, stating that innovation only uses a single blood sample to detect esophageal, colorectal, lung, liver, and stomach cancer. The study claimed that the diagnosis results will be available up to four years before the patient's symptoms start to surface.
"What we showed is: up to four years before these people walk into the hospital, there are already signatures in their blood that show they have cancer," said Kun Zhang, a bioengineer at the University of California.
"That's never been done before," he added.
Zhang and his team created the new blood test using a new approach. Compared to previous medical experiments, the researchers used blood samples from people who were already diagnosed with cancer. The study was able to recruit 123,000 volunteers from Taizhou, China.
Annual health checks, which include blood sample collections, were given to the patients. 1.6 million specimens were stored in a special warehouse, specifically designed for the study's purpose. The researchers were able to collect samples from 1,100 participants who developed cancer in the following 10 years, allowing them to identify the cancer signals.
The new test is called PanSeer, which can identify methylation patterns associated with different types of cancer. Since DNA interaction is involved, the chemical process can alter genetic activity.
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