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Cheap, Quick and Accurate Cancer Detection

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  • You may have a Toshiba laptop or maybe a Toshiba TV and eventually you may get a Toshiba blood test. That's right. And not just any test, but a lifesaving cancer detection test that's cheap and accurate. The company developed a machine that can detect thirteen cancers using a single drop of blood. That's far less involved than today's process for diagnosing cancer.

    Today we look for physical symptoms, order CT scans and biopsies. All of this takes time, can be invasive and is expensive. Toshiba's test, by comparison, is just one hundred eighty dollars. Its machine measures the types and concentrations of microRNA molecules released into the blood by cancer cells.

    MicroRNAs regulate how much of a protein is made which is different from messenger RNAs that actually provide the recipes for protein production. MicroRNAs are involved in cell reproduction and death, blood vessel development, and are like hormones that travel to cells in many parts of the body. They play a part in how cancer cells develop, progress and spread.

    The new machine will be used to detect gastric, esophageal, lung, liver, pancreatic, bowel, ovarian, prostate, bladder and breast cancers was well as sarcomas and gliomas. They're also small enough to fit in most clinics. The machine may start medical trials next year and could be available within several years. What a game changer this could be.

More Information

New machine detects 13 types of cancer with a single drop of blood
Toshiba has invented a machine that can detect 13 types of cancer using just a single drop of blood in record time: in just two hours, people will have a full diagnosis for the ridiculous price of $180 or under with more than 99% accuracy...

Molecular Pathways: microRNAs, Cancer Cells, and Microenvironment
The discovery that miRNAs can circulate between various types of cells and provoke biological effects, either supportive or inhibitory for tumor growth or dissemination, has revolutionized the way the tumor initiation and metastatic pyramidal cascades are thought of...

Early detection of cancer
Early detection of cancer greatly increases the chances for successful treatment. There are two major components of early detection of cancer: education to promote early diagnosis and screening...

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 Medicine...

Medicine is constantly advancing – that is a great thing about life in the 21st century. But it doesn’t just happen. Dedicated biomedical scientists are making discoveries that translate into those new medical advances.

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