New Blood Test Could ‘Transform’ Cancer Diagnosis

Cancer is a word that probably frightens anyone to the core. This deadly disease is a nightmare for everyone and is highly depressing for anyone who is suffering from it. In order to cure cancer or stop the cancer cells from proliferating, it has to be detected early on.

There are plenty of techniques in practice through which this fatal disease can be detected. However, scientists are trying to come up with better and more advanced ways of detecting and curing this disease.

Researchers from the Stanford University have come up with an innovative way to diagnose cancer. This technique called single colour digital PCR is a breakthrough in the field medical diagnosis. Mutation of genes even in traces of DNA exuded into the bloodstream of a human being by cancer cells can be diagnosed with this medical wonder. And the technique works fine even when the amount of blood taken for testing is as low a portion of a tube. Surprisingly, a single reaction can detect as many as three mutated molecules. 

Why this test can be considered a boon to the society?

Until recently, the cancer disease monitoring ways techniques that we had in place were associated with blood-based proteomic assays and that too yielded limitedly accurate results. The processes were costly with whole body imaging, and their complexity and time-consuming nature made them lose their popularity in the arena of diagnosis. However, this recently invented test has a different way of working. As mentioned above, the “single colour digital PCR” needs a low volume of blood to yield accurate results. The test is highly sensitive and has the potential to be one of the biggest medical achievements so far. However, it still needs an upgrade, on which scientists are working dedicatedly.

Such a diagnostic test can be a boon to the society as the results obtained from it are reliable and mostly accurate. In addition to this, the process is not too complex, so, a great relief for lab technicians.

The bottom line is that, we need more of such diagnostic tests that prove to be of value to the medical fraternity as well as the mankind.