According to a newly-published study in Nature Communications, a team of researchers and scientists in Australia have successfully developed a 10-minute test that can easily detect the presence of cancer cells anywhere in the human body.
The cancer test was developed after researchers at the University of Queensland discovered that cancer forms a unique DNA structure when placed in water.The test works in a specified process- by identifying the presence of that structure, a discovery that could help detect cancer in humans far earlier than current methods.
The 10-minute test developed in Australia is yet to be used on humans, and large clinical trials are needed before it can be used on prospective patients. But the outcome and signs have been positive. Tests on more than 200 tissue and blood samples detected cancerous cells with 90% accuracy.
The test uses gold particles, which are in sync with cancer-affected DNA and can affect molecular behavior in a way that causes visible color changes.
It’s been used only to detect breast, prostate, bowel and lymphoma cancers, but they’re confident the results can be replicated with other types of the disease.
“Discovering that cancerous DNA molecules formed entirely different 3D nanostructures from normal circulating DNA was a breakthrough that has enabled an entirely new approach to detect cancer non-invasively in any tissue type including blood,”Professor Matt Trau of Queensland University said.
“Cancer is a complicated disease, [and currently] every type has a different testing and screening system. In most cases, there is no general test to test their status.”
Co-researcher Abu Sina said the test is a “significant discovery” that could be a “game changer” for cancer detection and treatment.
“Now, people only go [to get checked out] if they have symptoms. We want [cancer screening] to be part of a regular checkup,” he added.
Notably, Scientists worldwide have been working on ways to identify cancer earlier, as early detection is known to increase the success rate of therapeutic treatment and surgery.
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