New DNA Test Could Detect Several Cancers Simultan
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As the latest innovations are cropping up daily, the health sector is also enjoying those benefits. Several methods of testing and detecting various diseases are being developed day by day. For instance, identifying conditions like cancer at the early stages is growing as the day goes by, and recent discoveries show that any disease can now be detected at its most initial stage.
Detecting Cancer Through DNA Evaluation of Fragments for Early Interception Packaging
A novel test has been discovered recently which can detect different kinds of cancer from blood samples. Researchers have developed the new method at the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center, which relies on original DNA packaging. The technique does not rely on tumors for it to detect the presence of cancer cells.
The DNA evaluation of fragments for early interception (“DELFI”) method works by analyzing cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in a patient’s bloodstream. It also uses artificial intelligence in identifying the abnormal DNA structures floating in the blood. In normal cases, the DNA is always packaged in a healthy cell nucleus in a well-organized way. However, if a cell is diagnosed with cancer, the DNA packaging is still disorganized compared to a healthy cell. The disorganization leads to their release into the bloodstream in a very unsystematic way.
DELFI can detect abnormalities in the amount and size of the DNA based on its packaging. Due to these abnormalities, the test identifies the presence of cancer faster and in an easy way. The current analysis used in detecting cancer works by either detecting methylation or mutation. Methylation is a process involving chemical reactions in which methyl groups are added to the DNA, which rarely occurs.
Furthermore, the efficiency of DELFI has been tested by using blood samples from cancer and non-cancer patients. Its effectiveness in detecting cancer was found to be between 55%-99% depending on the type of cancer. The method was used to test lung, pancreatic, ovarian, gastric, breast, bile duct, and colorectal cancers. Besides, DELFI was also able to identify the tissues from which lung, chest, and colon cancers originated from.
According to one of the researchers, the potentiality of DNA Evaluation of Fragments for Early Interception in detecting cancer at its early stages is encouraging. The researchers are working closely with other relevant bodies to make this test available to cancer patients quickly. Biomedical companies like DarioHealth Corp. (NASDAQ: DRIO) are likely to follow this research closely as it could have huge potential in the industry.
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