With This Technique, Stomach Cancer Is Detected In As Little As Two Hours

Stomach cancer is the fifth most common dangerous cancer in the world. Although experts do not know what causes this type of cancer, it is known that early detection is key in the fight against it.

The most complicated thing about this disease is that patients often have early  symptoms that feel only with respect to a normal life. These symptoms include: feeling full and heavy in the stomach, and poor digestion.

However, this type of cancer progresses to a more serious stage when an unexplained weight loss can be seen in the patient or when blood appears in the stool. At this point, the patient needs  more aggressive techniques to fight the cancer-causing cells.

In May last year, a group of young doctors from Mexico, Greece and Chile created a  biomarker to make it easier to detect stomach cancer in the early stages of the disease. This technique requires only a blood test and a two-hour wait,  and allows the patient to be diagnosed at an early stage of abdominal cancer. Thus, of course, this technique improves the patient’s life expectancy.

The news is definitely very positive, and we want to tell you a little more about it this time – keep reading, because the topic is important!

Stomach cancer and the importance of early detection

Stomach cancer is not as common or aggressive a type of cancer as, for example, lung cancer. However, it is a very essential disease, as  every year one million people are diagnosed with that cancer.

If this disease is diagnosed only after it has progressed to later stages, it will be more difficult to fight it.

This type of tumor is especially common in Pacific countries. In addition, stomach cancer is usually associated with smoking. Another factor that should be considered regarding the causes of stomach cancer is a  bacterium called h elicobacter pylori.

• Despite the fact that this bacterium lives on the abdominal mucosa of many people, it can combine with other factors, which then leads to the development of cancer cells.

• Helicobacter pylori  is always a precursor to this type of cancer if a person has a gene called cagA that is linked to cellular toxins.

Therefore, it can only be said that the likelihood of getting stomach cancer is the result of a combination of lifestyle, diet, hereditary factors and also the effect of various toxins from the environment.

Stomach cancer is a very difficult to predict disease, but experts say the  survival rate for this type of cancer is 90% if it is detected in the early stages.

That’s why recent advances in detecting stomach cancer in its early stages are really great news.

Who is behind the development of this new biomarker?

Chilean engineer Alejandro Tocigl, Greek scientist Foteini Christodoulou and Mexican electrical engineer Jorge Soto have made this progress possible.

• These young scientists designed a biomarker to diagnose or rule out the possibility of stomach cancer in a patient. All you need is a blood test.
• The work of the scientists was showcased in the Singularity University program, which was funded by Google and NASA. The purpose of this project is to meet a variety of medical and societal needs.
• Research and development for this biomarker was part of a three-year project conducted at the University of California (UCSF) in San Francisco.

Drops of blood can save lives

A new way to detect stomach cancer has long been very necessary.

This is because experts currently diagnose patients with symptoms of stomach cancer at their clinics, and thus patients have to wait a certain amount of time before results are obtained. In addition, during these visits, the experts carry out examinations such as endoscopies as well as other tests that are very complex, difficult for the patient and also expensive.

• As simple as  adding this biomarker to a regular blood test may allow for an early diagnosis of stomach cancer. Detection can occur even before the patient has had any symptoms of this disease.
• A machine called Miroculus analyzes a patient’s blood sample. This machine is able to detect molecules associated with cancer in a  patient’s blood.
• In addition, Miroculus is able to make a diagnosis in as little as two hours. That machine is simple, safe and efficient, and it is to be hoped that it will be available all over the world from 2018 onwards.

• Looking at the good results that this machine produces, many experts still hope for certain improvements so that Miroculus can detect other types of cancers and diseases as well.
• In summary, this biomarker, when used in combination with Miroculus, is a preferred way to detect gastric cancer. It could also lower the cost of other studies. In addition, it provides an earlier and more effective diagnosis. Unfortunately, however, as we have already mentioned,  it will not be available before 2018.

In this regard, the importance of seeing a doctor if you experience negative changes in your body cannot be overemphasized. This facilitates the possibility of early diagnosis – for both cancer and other diseases.