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New blood test can check for 13 types of cancers 7/24/17 Japan News

*GG*

*GG*

senior member
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Concord, NH
The Yomiuri ShimbunA research team led by the Tokyo-based National Cancer Center Japan has developed a new test to diagnose 13 kinds of cancers from a single drop of blood, with a clinical study set to start from next month.

The center’s research and ethics screening committee gave the green light to the study in mid-July. The research team will apply to the central government to put the new test into practical use within three years, at the earliest.

cont'd

http://www.the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003837884
 
B

barbc56

Senior Member
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Be wary of any scientific trials that form a conclusion before the study begins. It lends itself to bias.
 
CFS_for_19_years

CFS_for_19_years

Hoarder of biscuits
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barbc56 said:
Be wary of any scientific trials that form a conclusion before the study begins. It lends itself to bias.
Click to expand...
There is a difference between a trial and a study. This is not a trial to test the effectiveness of an intervention such as a drug or other type of therapy. It is a proof-of-concept study confirming the usefulness of the test that has already been developed.

At least in the US, before any new clinical test is put into use and marketed, the developer has to prove that it is useful in diagnosing or monitoring a condition or disease or medication. By this time most of the technical kinks of the assay have been worked out. All new clinical tests have the same bias of the developer wanting the test to be useful and approved to go to market.
From a single drop of blood, the researchers could diagnose all the cancers, including relatively early stage 1 cancers, with more than 95 percent accuracy. Breast cancer was diagnosed with 97 percent accuracy.

However, the properties of miRNA could have changed in preserved blood. Therefore, in the planned clinical study, the research team will use fresh blood provided by about 3,000 people, including patients and healthy people.
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These are amazing sensitivity rates for a blood test. Using fresher samples in the upcoming study, these percentages might even increase. Since the earlier study tested known cancer patients, in this upcoming study they will have the opportunity to test healthy people to see what the specificity is, also known as the false-positive rate.
 
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