An innovative blood test to detect cancer cells could eventually replace conventional methods. Early diagnosis could be one of the biggest benefits provided by the new cancer blood test. Testing a patient's blood using the brand new technique could result in more effective treatment and help determine if the cancer has been defeated. Article source - New cancer blood test could revolutionize diagnosis and treatment by MoneyBlogNewz.

Cancer remedy one step nearer

The Harvard University and Johnson & Johnson medical researchers are coming up with a new cancer blood test. Instead of invasive biopsies and uncomfortable mammograms or colonoscopies, drawing a single teaspoon of blood might produce more reliable outcomes. Cancer cells that leave a tumor and start to go to other organs through the bloodstream are called circulating tumor cells, or CTCs, which is what the blood test is there to discover. Medical researchers speculate that CTCs are the agent that allows cancer to spread. The patient’s health would be determined based on the amount of CTCs which were found.

Operating the cancer blood test

The cancer blood test involves a microchip the size of a business card covered with 78,000 tiny posts. The posts are coated with antibodies that draw cancer cells from the blood sample. Cancer cells stick to the posts although healthy blood cells just bounce off. The cancer cells will glow if they're stuck to the posts because of a dye added so they might be counted. Researchers said that the brand new cancer blood examination is so sensitive that a single cancer cell could be set apart from millions of cells contained in a blood sample. The cells are not just counted. They might soon have a gene analysis done to them which can result in cancer treatments that are very effective.

Clinical use in three-to-5 years

There are some cancerous patients that will benefit more from the new cancer blood examination than others. These contain anybody with prostate, bladder, colon, kidney and lung cancer. The $30 million that Johnson & Johnson has invested into the process will end up with the Food and drug administration having to approve this just like other new drugs. Only three to five more years are needed before the procedure could be accessible for medical use.

Information from

Business Week

businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/648465.html

Healthy Living

knowabouthealth.com/single-cancer-cell-can-be-detected-using-sensitive-microchip/7419/

CBS News

cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/03/eveningnews/main7209692.shtml