100% accuracy, say scientists.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: Scientists have found a new method that has been proved 100% accurate in predicting a person’s susceptibility to cancer, at least 13 years ahead of its occurrence.
Researchers at Harvard and Northwestern University were able to detect subtle changes in the body of the patients, who after more than a decade, were diagnosed with cancer. According to these scientists, a protective layer on the head of every chromosome that prevent damage of the DNA experienced abrasions in patients who later in their lives developed cancer. They added that the protective layer known as telomeres continued to wear off, getting shorter and shorter until 4 years before cancer settles in the body of the patient.
Dr. Lifang Hou, the lead study author and a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine was quoted by the journal Ebiomedicine saying “Understanding this pattern of telomere growth may mean it can be a predictive biomarker for cancer.”
He also said “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.”
The new study, though a bit intimidating for people who doesn’t want to know about a future disease, is beneficial as the people who shows symptoms of cancer can adjust their lifestyle in such a way that the disease can be at least tamed, if not prevented.
Another research in the Stanford University is studying the possibility of re-growing telemores. Nevertheless, the insurance companies have warned that such tests in the future will increase the premium of their policies.
Matt Sanders of GoCompare was quoted by Telegraph saying “If this test showed 100 per cent probability over a certain number of years then it could affect premiums. It would be the equivalent of living in a high theft area for someone looking for home insurance.”
He added that “Premiums could rise to a point where some people would simply be priced out. However if it was shown that diagnosing earlier could prevent cancer then that could bring down premiums.”
During the course of the study, scientists took measurements of telomeres found in 792 people over a period of 13 years out of which 135 were diagnosed with different types of cancer.
The scientists were able to find that people whose telomeres aged faster, identified by the pace in which they lose weight, developed cancer in the later stage of their lives. According to the scientists the telomeres found in patients who developed cancer looked 15 older than that of the others. The scientists were also able to find that the aging process of telomeres arrested four years before the patient is diagnosed with cancer.
Telomeres have a tendency to shorten as the person becomes older. This is because the older person has allowed the cells to device more times, which leads to the shortening of telomeres. Scientists also said that the cancer cells “hijacked” the telomere shortening in order to spread in the body.
The research team now hope that they can identify how the cancer cells are able to take control of the telomeres and then later find a way to understand way to make the cancer cells self-destruct without affecting other healthy cells in the body.
1 Comment
There’s already a test that not only predicts cancer years in advance, but also PREVENTS it (if you act soon enough). That test is a COLONOSCOPY, during which pre-cancerous “polyps” can be removed & thereby prevented from turning into bowel cancers: https://t.co/qb83PGmLHB