Signs of cancer could be discovered years before symptoms appear

Cambridge researchers say tests that can detect early cell changes would give doctors more time to provide appropriate treatment.

Researchers at an oncology institute, recently opened at Cambridge University, are working to identify changes in cells many years before they turn into tumors, The Guardian reports.

The study aims to help design new ways to treat cancer.

Basically, scientists at the Early Cancer Institute want to find new ways to tackle tumors before they produce symptoms. They build on recent findings that have shown that many people develop precancerous conditions that remain dormant for long periods of time.

“The latency period for the development of a cancer can last for years, sometimes a decade or two, before the condition suddenly manifests itself in patients. Then the doctors find themselves struggling to treat a tumor that has, by then, spread throughout the patient’s body. We need a different approach, one that can detect a person at risk of cancer early, using tests that can be administered to large numbers of people. “, said Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, director of the institute, according to the British daily.

A new technique to spot the signs of cancer

The researchers use a new method developed by Rebecca Fitzgerald and her team, called “cytosponges”, meaning a sponge tied to a string. Patients must swallow the Cytosponge capsule, like a pill, it expands in the stomach and turns into a sponge, and is then pulled up the throat, collecting cells from the esophagus along the way. Those cells that contain a protein called TFF3, which is only found in precancerous cells. Thus, it provides an early warning that a patient is at risk of esophageal cancer and should be monitored. Crucially, this test can be administered simply and widely.

Fitzgerald pointed out that this represents a difference in current approaches to other cancers.

“Nowadays, we detect many cancers late and we have to come up with drugs, which have become more and more expensive. We often extend life by a few weeks at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds. We have to look at this from another perspective“, she says.

Genetic changes more than a decade before the onset of leukemia

Another approach of the Institute is based on blood samples. Provided by women as part of earlier ovarian cancer screening services and kept in special storage, these samples have now been reused by the institute.

“We have around 200,000 such samples and they are a gold mine“said Jamie Blundell, the leader of a research group at the institute.

More specifically, the scientists used the samples to identify changes that differentiate donors who were later diagnosed with a blood cancer 10 or even 20 years after the samples were taken, from those who did not. conditions.

“We are finding that there are clear genetic changes in a person’s blood more than a decade before they start showing symptoms of leukemia. This shows that there is a long window of opportunity that you could use to step in and give TREATMENTS which will reduce the chances of getting cancerJamie Blundell explained.

This approach can prevent further developments of the disease, given that oncological conditions develop in stages. It is essential that doctors, alerted early to the presence of precancerous cells, take action and avoid having to deal with a cancer at a late stage when it has spread.

Moreover, the Institute at Cambridge University aims to identify people at risk of cancer, for example, those in families with a hereditary predisposition to tumors. Another goal of the institution is to identify new ways to reduce cancer risks, but also to ensure that treatments can be widely administered.