Scientists have created a simple early-stage cancer test capable of catching signs of up to 14 different types of cancer. The test is also relatively simple, which means it should be low-cost, making it available to more people than ever.
Being able to catch cancer in its earliest stages can greatly improve the odds of treatment being effective, improving the patient’s survival rates overall. And, with so many different treatment options being made available in recent years, we’re finding new ways to fight back against cancer entirely.
If we can create a proper early-stage cancer test, though, that catches these diseases as early as possible, then treatments like a cancer-killing virus may prove even more reliable when it starts rolling out with worldwide availability. Further, with the test being such a simple one, doctors could administer it and then be able to quickly look into treatment options that work for the patient.
To say that this test could revolutionize how we approach finding cancer in its earliest stages is a bit of an understatement. The researchers that developed it created it so that it can detect up to 14 types of stage-1 cancer just based on blood or urine, making it one of the most effective early-stage cancer tests the world of medicine has ever seen.
Further, the test allows doctors to test for types of cancer that aren’t typically screened for today and cannot be found with standard DNA-based MCED tests, like kidney cancer and tumors in the brain. The researchers published a paper on the new test in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, detailing the findings they have made with the new test.
Now that we have this early-stage cancer test, perhaps we’ll see even more cancer treatments popping up that can address the different types of cancer that it can detect. We’re already seeing nanobot cancer treatments entering human drug trials, so it’s possible we could see more refined treatments coming out for these other types of cancer as well, which will make treatments and testing better.
