There's a distinct pattern in the changing length of blood telomeres, the protective end caps on the DNA strands, that can predict cancer up to 13 years before the disease actually diagnose, according to the Scientists at Harvard and North Western University. This pattern could absolutely yield a new biomarker to predict cancer development with a blood test with 100% accuracy.
Telomeres are more shorter than they should be and continue to get shorter until around four years before the cancer developed. When they stopped getting small.
The cancer had steal the telomeres shortening in order to flourishes in the body, according to scientists. The 135 patients who were examined and tested positive were eventually diagnosed with different kind of cancer.
"Understanding this pattern of telomere growth may mean it can be a predictive biomarker for cancer. Because we saw a strong relationship in the pattern across a wide variety of cancers, with the right testing these procedures could be used to eventually diagnose a wide variety of cancers… If scientists can identify how cancer hijacks the cell, perhaps treatments could be developed to cause cancer cells to self-destruct without harming healthy cells,” said Dr. Lifang Hou, the lead study author and a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Source: AnonHQ
Source: AnonHQ
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