According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer and related causes claim nearly 10 million lives around the world each year. This heavy human toll makes cancer research a top priority for researchers worldwide.
Diagnosing any type of cancer can be a long and difficult process and this can delay the timely prescription of appropriate treatment. Scientists have been devising more efficient ways of diagnosing and treating cancer.
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US have developed a new blood test called CancerSEEK, which is highly sensitive and can detect eight types of cancer — breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, and esophageal cancer — with a moderate to high degree of accuracy.
The new blood test identifies specific cancer biomarkers, such as tell-tale genetic mutations, and the presence of proteins associated with different types of cancer. CancerSEEK has been found to be most precise in detecting ovarian cancer, diagnosing this with 98 percent accuracy.
Other research has focused on finding better ways to stop cancer in its tracks. One study from the Stanford University School of Medicine, again in the US, tested a new cancer-destroying injection in mice. With a single shot, the researchers were able to boost specialized immune cell activity within the tumor and destroy solid cancer tumors.
This approach bypassed the need to identify tumor-specific immune targets and did not require activation of the entire immune system or customization of a patient’s immune cells.
Researchers claimed the injection could be wielded against many different types of cancer. It has so far shown promise against breast, colon, and skin cancer.
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