Tag Archives: diagnostic

Non-invasive blood test can detect cancer four years before diagnosis.

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Researchers led by UC San Diego develop a non-invasive blood test capable of detecting circulating tumor DNA methylation to identify whether a person has one of the five most prevalent forms of cancers, up to four years before diagnosis. The team states their diagnostic can detect cancer by targeting a limited number of genomic regions aberrantly methylated across different cancer types, allowing it to be used as an inexpensive cancer screen from only a single vial of blood, unlike the more costly ctDNA which works by identifying a legion of inconsistent mutations.

The leading cause of death worldwide, cancer killed at least 7.6 million people in 2008, accounting for a staggering thirteen percent of all deaths globally. With no signs of abating, the number of international cancer deaths is projected to increase by forty-five percent in the next decade. The majority of deaths involving this disease are caused primarily by lung, breast,

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