Simple Blood Test can Detect Breast CancerĀ and Lung Cancer Long Before Symptoms Emerge
A simple blood test can accurately detect the beginning stages of two common cancers long before symptoms appear, scientists claim.
An initial study found the test had a 95 per cent success rate in detecting cancer in participants, including those with breast cancer in stages 0 and 1 and those with lung cancer in stages 1 and 2. Stage 2 is when patients typically begin to display symptoms and are most often diagnosed.
The researchers, from Kansas State University, said they were close to testing for pancreatic cancer as well. Read MoreGreen Tea and Cancer Prevention: New Clues
Green tea and its extracts have long been studied for health benefits, including cancer prevention.
Now, researchers have new clues about how it may work to help prevent or slow the growth of prostate and breast cancers.
Researchers presented the new findings here today at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting on cancer prevention. Read MoreAlemtuzumab Lessens Relapses, Improves Disability
Two new trials offer proof that a leukemia drug long used to treat multiple sclerosis works better than a common treatment.
When compared with the widely used drug interferon beta, the leukemia drug alemtuzumab reduced relapse rates by half, researchers say.
Alemtuzumab Reverses Disability in Some
Alemtuzumab has been used to treat MS for close to two decades, but it has never been approved for this use. It is given by IV infusion.
The drug not only reduced relapses, but improved disability associated with MS, such as loss of coordination or difficulty walking, in some patients.
Read MoreTargeting just one chemical inside cancerous cells could one day lead to a single test for a broad range of cancers, researchers say.
The same system could then be used to deliver precision radiotherapy.
Scientists told the National Cancer Research Institute conference they had been able to find breast cancer in mice weeks before a lump had been detected.
The same target chemical was also present in cancers of the lung, skin, kidney and bladder, they said.
Read MoreHaving lots of friends and a supportive family when suffering from breast cancer significantly boosts the chances of survival.
Breast cancer patients with a wide circle of friends and relatives are 38 per cent less likely to die within a decade of being diagnosed than those with few friends and less close-knit families, found American researchers.
Candyce Kroenke, a research scientist at American health firm Kaiser Permanente, said: "We found that women with small social networks had a significantly higher risk of mortality than those with large networks."
Read MoreStatins -- widely prescribed drugs used to help prevent death from heart disease -- may play a role in reducing risk for cancer death, too, a new study shows.
Read MoreFor cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy who have found their complaints of general mental fogginess and haziness dismissed by their doctors as not being a real medical condition, vindication has arrived.
Using brain imaging, researchers have found physiological evidence of "chemo brain," the problems with memory, concentration, and planning that often plague cancer patients during treatment with chemotherapy drugs.
A combination of positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET/CT) showed chemotherapy can induce changes in the brain that may affect concentration and memory, says researcher Rachel A. Lagos, DO, a resident in diagnostic radiology at the West Virginia University School of Medicine and West Virginia University Hospitals in Morgantown.
Read MoreScientists say they have developed a breath-test that can accurately tell if a person has bowel cancer.
The test, which looks for exhaled chemicals linked to tumour activity, was able to identify a majority of patients with the disease.
The British Journal of Surgery reported an overall accuracy of 76%.
However, another scientist said it was unlikely a fully functioning and reliable breath-test would be available soon for the general public.
Scientists are working on breath-tests for a host of other diseases, including several types of cancer, TB and diabetes.
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