Apr 13 2009
New technique detects Cancer from a drop of Blood
It is reported that researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine are developing a new technique for cancer diagnosis that not only detect cancer but also tells whether or not a treatment is working. And the best thing is that it requires just a tiny drop of blood or a tiny portion of tissue for cancer detection!
Yes, for cancer detection it requires just a tiny drop of blood or speck of tissue. Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a machine that can test whether cancer-related proteins are present in the tiny samples. So, a minute drop of your blood will be able to confirm whether or not you have cancer!
The technique not only provide details about the cancer but also tells how the cancer proteins reacts to treatments. During the study, that was mainly focused on blood cancers, the technique was also able to detect and differentiate between different lymphoma types.
If we talk about present techniques of cancer diagnosis, the first thing comes to our mind is surgical biopsies. Biopsies takes time and sometimes are painful for the patients. That’s why it is thought that the new technique will facilitate quick and easy diagnosis of cancer.
Though the new technique was used to detect blood cancers, the researchers hope that it will also help in diagnosis and monitoring of other types of cancers. They are now testing it on head and neck tumors.
