A new test developed by Umeå University in Sweden could revolutionize how cancer is detected—because it requires only a single drop of blood.
As reported in Cancer Cell, the test evaluates a component of the blood known as platelets—which are responsible for blood clotting. By assessing the genetic code of the RNA within platelets, the researchers were able to identify cancer in participants with 96 percent accuracy—meaning that someday, cancer might not ever be discovered too late.
“Being able to detect cancer at an early stage is vital,” said Jonas Nilsson, cancer researcher at Umeå University and co-author of the article, in a statement. “We have studied how a whole new blood-based method of biopsy can be used to detect cancer, which in the future renders an invasive cell tissue sample unnecessary in diagnosing lung cancer, for instance. In the study, nearly all forms of cancer were identified, which proves that blood-based biopsies have an immense potential to improve early detection of cancer.”
Exciting results could change cancer detection forever
The study builds upon recent research into using blood-based RNA tests to detect and classify cancer. As it turns out, some blood platelets take up protein and RNA molecules shed by tumors, turning them into tumor-educated platelets (TEPs). This alters the genetic material within the platelets, which the test can then detect.
The researchers drew blood samples from 283 individuals—228 of whom had cancer and 55 of whom showed no evidence of it. By examining the RNA within the participants’ platelets, they were able to detect the presence of cancer in 96 percent of all patients, and in 100 percent of patients with early-stage cancer.
But the results were even more exciting, because the same methods were also able to pinpoint the origin of the tumors in 71 percent of patients with diagnosed cancer in the lung, breast, pancreas, brain, liver, colon, or rectum.
“Our results indicate that blood platelets provide a valuable platform for pan-cancer, multiclass cancer, and companion diagnostics, possibly enabling clinical advances in blood-based ‘liquid biopsies,’” wrote the authors.
The future of cancer detection may be changed forever.
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