2024-04-04 05:20:42
Researchers at the Cancer Institute at the University of Cambridge in Britain announced the possibility of detecting cancer years before the disease appears, noting that “this is done by studying cell changes before they develop into tumors,” according to the British newspaper “The Guardian.”
Researchers at the recently opened institute point out that “identifying and studying changes in cells helps design new ways to treat cancer,” according to the newspaper.
According to the newspaper, the institute’s research focuses on finding ways to treat tumors before symptoms appear, by exploiting recent discoveries that have shown that “many people develop cancers that remain in abeyance for long periods.”
The newspaper quoted the director of the institute, Rebecca Fitzgerald, as saying, “The latency period for cancer development can last for years, and sometimes for a decade or two, before the condition suddenly appears in patients.”
“We need a different approach that can detect a person at risk of cancer early, using proactive testing,” she added.
According to the newspaper, one of the tests is conducted using a small capsule connected to a thin thread developed by Fitzgerald and her team. It is swallowed like a pill, expands in the stomach, and is then pulled up the esophagus to collect esophageal cells.
The newspaper notes that “those cells contain a protein called TFF3 that provides an early warning that the patient is at risk of developing esophageal cancer and needs to be monitored.”
In the newspaper’s opinion, this test “can be conducted simply and on a large scale.”
The British newspaper notes that “the institute focused on blood samples provided by a group of women as part of previous screening services for ovarian cancer. They were preserved in a special way, and are now being reused by the institute.”
The newspaper quoted the leader of one of the research groups at the institute, Jimmy Blundell, as saying that “tests have proven the presence of clear genetic changes in the blood of infected people more than a decade before the symptoms of leukemia appear.”
He added, “This indicates that there are many opportunities that can be used to intervene and give treatments that will reduce the possibility of cancer.”
The newspaper pointed out that “another leader of a research group at the Cancer Institute in Cambridge, named Harvey Dave, investigated men who had undergone prostatectomy, and his team is now working on developing indicators that will provide better ways to identify people who are likely to suffer from prostate cancer.”
“Our trial data suggests that these tests will be crucial in detecting those who will develop prostate cancer,” Dave said.
According to the newspaper, identifying people at risk of developing cancer, and people who belong to families with a genetic predisposition to developing tumors, will form an essential part of the institute’s research.
Last updated: April 1, 2024 – 02:43
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2024-04-04 05:20:42