Cancer has become a growing menace with millions around the world suffering from this life-threatening disease. While there is no way to prevent it or a sure-shot cure, early diagnosis can help in a lot of cases. Keeping this in mind, a group of Chinese scientists have developed a new test that can detect different kinds of cancers using just one drop of blood.
Researchers at Tsinghua University’s School of Life Sciences have created a reagent (mixture) test kit of Hsp90a protein that will be available for clinical use in the European and Chinese Markets. This unique protein was discovered in the human body 24 years ago and now, can be finally used as a bio-marker for cancer with the help of the new test. For the development of the test, Lead Researcher Luo Yongzhang along with his team produced an artificial Hsp90a protein that gains structural stability by regrouping proteins. This means they found a way to create the protein, in any quantity and at any time.
The kit was tested in clinical experiments that involved 2,347 patients at eight hospitals in China.
According to their report, this is the first clinical trial to have ever been performed to test if this particular protein can be used to detect lung cancer and it succeeded.
Cancer is a chronic disease in which cells grow abnormally and destroy the essential body tissues. There are more than 100 types of cancers and the symptoms vary accordingly but early diagnosis can certainly help in treating and managing the disease better. According to the Cancer Research UK, The four most common Cancers occurring worldwide are lung, female breast, bowel and prostate cancer. In most cases, doctors may have to do a biopsy to detect cancer where they remove sample of the infected tissue and a pathologist checks if it has malignant cells under a microscope. The discovery and availability of this test can make the diagnosis so much more easier and faster.
[“source-ndtv”]
