Cancer Detection Tool

• 29 Jun 2019

The team at Yale University has developed a tool which can potentially detect triggers in patients with renal as well as brain cancers, a finding that could advance the treatment of cancer by early detection.

• The researchers have found how cancer cells are triggered to spread to other parts of the body (this process of spreading of cancer cells is called metastasis).
• Finding and treating cancer at an early stage can save lives. However, treatment becomes more difficult, once cancer gets metastasised or spreads.

Metastases

• It is the plural form of metastasis. It most commonly develops when cancer cells break away from the main tumour and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system. These systems carry fluids around the body. This means that the cancer cells can travel far from the original tumour and form new tumours when they settle and grow in a different part of the body.
• Metastases can also sometimes develop when cancer cells from the main tumour, typically in the belly, or abdominal cavity, break off and grow in nearby areas, such as in the liver, lungs, or bones.

• Advantages: The discovery can potentially be used to develop new prognostic tests and pave the way for more personalised clinical interventions.
  
  • Novel drugs can be developed to target the cells and prevent them from undergoing the change in environment which acts as a trigger to cancer.