From the first moment my wife discovered
she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even
ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have
received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than
mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started
this blog…
Every month, I’ll be highlighting breast
cancer research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites,
journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and
share them with you. Today: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/15/193
In Germany, a
team of doctors at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Medical
Center (Freiburg) have applied for a patent for a method they discovered for
simplifying the detection of breast cancer in a urine sample.
With half a
million women dying from breast cancer world-wide, the effectiveness of early
intervention and treatment, and “Up to now, doctors have made the diagnosis by
mammography or ultrasound and confirmed it with tissue samples...methods [that]
have been subject to recurring criticism due to radiation exposure, erroneous
results, and the fact that they involve an invasive intervention,” the
possibility of reaching more women, faster, and cheaper is very much a “golden
ring” in breast cancer research.
While the test
was small (24 women without breast cancer, and 24 women with stage 1, 2, or 3
breast cancer), the test was able to correctly determine whether or not breast
cancer was present 91% of the time. Further testing is being planned even as I
write this.
How does it find
evidence of breast cancer?
By highlighting
certain parts of a cell called “microRNA”. What’s that? In this case, “micro”
refers to how small the piece of RNA is – 20 bits (or nucleotides) long. Not
visible under a regular microscope, for
sure. But visible to tests designed to highlight them, absolutely. What’s RNA?
Most people know
that DNA is the stuff in a cell that makes us who we are. My DNA coded for me
being a Guy, blonde hair, blue eyes, and about six feet tall – as well as all
sorts of other stuff.
When my cells
split, especially while I was growing, a piece of RNA was made from the DNA of
my cells. Then the RNA kicked in, helping in the process of making a protein.
Proteins then transfer messages to cells – in the case of cancer, it directs
the cell to grow without stopping. (If you’re REALLY interested in this, start
with this article, then go to the Science Daily one, and then to the
BioMedCentral Journal article.)
This microRNA
then is floating around in the blood. It turns out that four of those kinds of
microRNA are specific to breast cancer. It’s these bits that this new test has
been able to identify.
Please note,
this has only been successful in ONE trial. The methodology has to be developed
into a real tool that ANYONE can use – in particular, the possibility of it
being used in developing countries and that it does not require invading the
body more than necessary is particularly hopeful!
But we HAVE TO
WAIT!
With great hope.
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