Early detection of cancer with new technique

This groundbreaking technique forces tumours to secrete a special protein that diagnoses the disease and indicates the severity of the cancer.

In a recently published study, scientists from Stanford University (USA) used a DNA sequence with a modified gene structure and injected it into the bodies of experimental mice. Blood tests later detected a substance only found in the blood of mice with tumors.

According to Foxnews, the tiny DNA strand works by entering cells and stimulating the RNA-making mechanism. The RNA then creates a protein called SEAP that functions as a cancer marker. Penetrating all cells in the body, the DNA strand has been added with a special activator that makes it active only in cancer cells.

Forty-eight hours after the DNA injection, scientists tested SEAP levels and found a special protein that only appeared in the blood of animals with malignant tumors. The DNA strand then gradually disappeared and eventually no longer existed in the body.

According to study author Sanjiv “sam” Gambhir, director of the Canary Stanford Cancer Early Detection Center, the new technique has turned traditional cancer detection methods in the laboratory upside down.

Professor Gambhir said that cancer diagnosis based on biomarkers that tumors produce themselves as before is often not specific or does not produce large quantities in small tumors. In addition, each tumor secretes a different characteristic substance, forcing patients to do many separate tests.

“We’ve turned the problem around. Now we don’t have to rely on nature to make a unique substance for each cancer. Patients are given a pill that forces cancer cells to make a unique substance for diagnosis,” Gambhir said.

The DNA chain also has a superior feature because it does not interfere with the host's genome. Therefore, it does not disturb the DNA of healthy cells. The introduction of DNA into the body also does not create an immune response because the DNA chain with the SEAP protein creation mechanism is not considered a foreign object by the body.

The new diagnostic method is expected to become a convenient and effective diagnostic method, although much more evidence is needed. The new technology could be put into clinical trials in the next 5-10 years, starting with large tumors and then smaller tumors to make sure it works. The researchers hope that by then, patients will be given a small pill instead of an injection as in mice. After 2 days, a blood test to detect SEAP will easily give results.

According to laodong