Easier detection of cancer.CANCERS may in future be diagnosed from a tiny drop of blood or speck of tissue smaller than a full stop.New technology that allows cancer proteins to be analysed in minute samples could spell the end of surgical biopsies, research suggests. Biopsies involve removing lumps of tissue for analysis in a laboratory and often require a general anaesthetic general anaesthetic Noun a substance that causes general anaesthesia See anaesthesia Noun 1. general anaesthetic - an anesthetic that anesthetizes the entire body and causes loss of consciousness . The same system could also enable cancer treatment to be monitored quickly and easily. Although the study focused on blood cancers, scientists hope to apply the technique to solid tumours too. US researchers, including Dr Dean Feisher, of the University of Stanford in California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). , reported in the online version of the journal Nature Medicine their development of a machine to separate out cancer-associated proteins by means of their electric charge. The technique was able to detect varying levels of activity of common cancer genes in human lymphoma lymphoma, a cancer of the tissue of the lymphatic system. There are two categories of lymphomas. One type is termed Hodgkin's disease, the other, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (see lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's). See also neoplasm. samples.. |
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