How many people have died from cancer? The rate of people dying of various types of cancer is growing each year and people cannot help but worry if they have that cancer gene, too. Luckily, GRAIL, Inc. is currently working on developing a blood test that will help detect the type of cancer you might have. The blood test does not only show its ability to screen for various types of cancer, but also it can be done with utmost accuracy.
The team of researchers working on the project uses a DNA-sequencing technology to probe on a patient's health through tiny chemical tags that will show the influence of whether the gene is active or inactive. The team applied it to 3,600 blood samples. Some of the samples were taken from cancer patients while there are also samples collected from those who have not been diagnosed with the disease (at least not yet). The test was successfully able to pick up cancer signals from the patients diagnosed with cancer. In fact, the test was able to correctly identify the tissue of origin of the cancer cells. The specificity of the test is very high which means it is able to return with results that could identify the actual type of cancer in a patient.
The new blood test being proposed works by looking for DNA when the cancer cells die, which sheds parts of itself into the bloodstream. This particular blood test focuses on the modifications to the DNA known as the methyl groups. Through the process called methylation, these chemical units that may be attached to the DNA will be able to detect which genes are "on" and which ones are "off". As it turns out, the abnormal patterns shown by the methyl groups have become more indicative of cancer and other cell mutations. In truth, it can even accurately identify the type of cancer cells that are turned "on."
"Previous blood works may indicate the possible presence and activation of the cancer gene, but this test could prove more than just that. With its new approach in DNA testing for cancer through methyl groups, the test would be able to identify multiple cancer cells present in an environment," said Geoffrey Oxnard, MD, one of the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Investigators. "The report on the new study demonstrate the huge possibility of screening people for cancer. This changes the name of the game when it comes to cancer detection and treatment."
The results of the test presented an overall specificity of 99.4%, which means less than 1% of the study incorrectly indicated the presence of cancer when it is not in fact present. Detecting the presence of cancer, no matter how minute they may be at the moment, could easily be translated to proper treatment and medication.
