what it is and how it can help detect a tumor early in the body

what it is and how it can help detect a tumor early in the body
what it is and how it can help detect a tumor early in the body

Scientists at a new cancer institute just in the University of Cambridge work on the detection of changes in cells that are generated many years before they become tumors.

This is an investigation led by the Early Cancer Institute which they hope will help design new alternatives to treating cancer.

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According to the British media, The Guardian, it focuses on finding ways to stop tumors before they produce symptoms. “The research will take advantage of recent discoveries that have shown that many people develop precancerous conditions that remain in suspense for long periods,” the publication says.

The latency of cancer development can last for yearssometimes one or two decades, before the disease suddenly manifests itself in patients,” Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, director of the institute, explained to the media, who also pointed out that by the time cancer has developed, doctors encounter difficulties in treating a tumor that has already spread throughout the patient’s body.

“We need a different approach, capable of detect cancer risk early through tests that can be administered to a large number of people“explains the expert. Which contrasts, according to Fitzgerald, with current approaches for other types of cancer:

“Currently, many cancers are detected late and we have to resort to increasingly expensive drugs. We often extend life by a few weeks at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds. We have to look at it from another perspective,” he said.

In this sense, one of the approaches adopted by the institute focuses on blood samples. From them, researchers have identified changes that differentiate donors who have subsequently been diagnosed with blood cancer 10 or even 20 years after giving them, from those who did not develop such conditions, as noted in The Guardian. .

The studies seek to help in the early detection and treatment of cancer.

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“We are discovering that there are genetic changes in a person’s blood more than a decade before they start to show symptoms of leukemia,” Jamie Blundell, head of the institute’s research group, told the British media. Something that for the scientist shows that there is a long window of opportunity that could be taken advantage of to intervene and administer treatments that reduce the chances of contracting cancer.

And, according to experts, cancers grow in stages and, if those who have cells that show early signs of this type of development are detected, they believe that it is possible to block or hinder their subsequent growth, giving doctors time. to treat the disease in early stages.

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