He breast cancer diagnosis This is vital. While it is true that the number of cases has increased significantly in recent years, this is also one of the types of cancer where its diagnosis and therefore treatment has improved the most. forecast. The existing methods for this are very effective, but there are some problems. On the one hand, typical mammography They are painful, and some people refuse to have them because they are exposed to radiation. This is minimal radiation, so the benefit-risk ratio is infinitely favorable, but it is still an excuse for some people not to get screened. Ultrasound They are less invasive, although they do not reach the same area as the X-ray beam. And of course magnetic resonance It is very effective, but the equipment used is very expensive. The same can be said about ultrasound machines and mammographs, although not as often.
For all these reasons, there are not only people who do not want to be screened. Some people don’t care, but in their countries healthcare infrastructure does not have the opportunity to purchase sufficient equipment for diagnosing breast cancer.
Therefore, a new study published by scientists from University of Florida and National Yang Ming Jiaotong University, from Taiwan, is the most promising. These researchers have managed to develop a diagnostic test for breast cancer for which all you need is a little saliva and very cheap equipment. In addition, the hardware and software used belongs to Arduino. It is an open source company, so it will be available to everyone.
How does this breast cancer diagnostic test work?
This breast cancer diagnostic test uses strips similar to those used in breast cancer diagnostic machines. glucose detection. They are very cheap and easy to get. But what to do if saliva gets on them?
The mechanism used, as with other rapid tests such as those used to detect COVID-19, is based on combining disease markers with their specific antibodies.
The antibodies our immune system produces in response to infection act like puzzle pieces. Or even like a key and lock. They associate themselves solely and exclusively with the foreign agent they are supposed to attack. There are antibodies that can bind to many molecules. Therefore they are very useful in diagnosis of diseases.
In this case, specific antibodies were selected for markers present in saliva that come from the body. Metabolism of breast cancer cells. When the saliva strip is placed in the reader, an electrical current is transmitted to it, which stimulates these antibodies to bind to tumor markers, if any. If the merger does not occur, then output current will be equal to the input value. However, if there are markers that bind to antibodies, the output current undergoes changes that can be measured through a series of electrodes. They also provide a signal proportional to the marker levels, so that approximate tumor severity.
Needed in developing countries
In many low income countriesBreast cancer survival rate is lower fifty%. On the contrary, in some countries with much higher income reaches 90%. This, among other factors, is a consequence of the difficulty of obtaining a sufficiently early diagnosis of breast cancer in these developing countries.
For this reason, the authors of the new study are so optimistic about their discovery. The tests they carried out were very positive. When used to analyze saliva of people whose diagnosis is already known, success rate It was very high.
If this is achieved, we will be able to achieve the global improvement in breast cancer prognosis that we have fought so hard for. World Health Organization. The results so far are encouraging, but it is too early to implement this saliva test in hospitals.
Those of us who live in a country that can afford regular mammograms without paying more than our taxes should be proud, appreciate what we have, and stop throwing our hands around minimum radiation dose. The consequences of late diagnosis can undoubtedly be much more harmful.
Source: Hiper Textual
