As per a recent study at the Umea University, Sweden, a new RNA test of blood platelets can change the conventional way of detecting cancer that involves multiple scans, surgical biopsies, and other methods. The university has published a paper on Cancer Cell journal that says this new blood-based RNA test is capable of detecting cancer, as well as classify and point out the location of the disease with 96% accuracy by analysing just a single drop of blood. This study was conducted by the Swedish university in collaboration with researchers from US and Netherlands.
This crucial study involved 283 individual with a success rate of 96% accurate detection of cancer. In fact, 100% successful early detection of the disease was recorded in this study. On the follow-up test, the successful detection of the origin of the tumour was 71%. By further subdivision of the blood samples on the basis of molecular differences on the form of cancer can help to determine the method of treatment.
Jonas Nilsson, cancer researcher and co-author of this paper, stated that,
“Being able to detect cancer at an early stage is vital. We have studied how a whole new blood-based method of biopsy can be used to detect cancer, which in the future renders an invasive cell tissue sample unnecessary in diagnosing lung cancer, for instance. In the study, nearly all forms of cancer were identified, which proves that blood-based biopsies have an immense potential to improve early detection of cancer,”
The result of this study shows that platelets, an element of blood, is a complete and at the same time, easily to access source for sampling, so it can be successfully used for selecting treatment and diagnosing cancer.
Story Inputs: Eureka Alert