Universal cancer test that detects tumours 10 years before they become dangerous is being developed

5 JUNE 2017 • 12:01AM

The simple blood test promises to revolutionise survival rates by catching cancers at their earliest stage CREDIT: ANDREW BROOKES

A universal cancer test that can detect tumours 10 years before they become dangerous is being developed, scientists have announced.

The simple blood test promises to revolutionise survival rates by catching cancers at their earliest stage.

Researchers told the world’s largest oncology conference in Chicago they had successfully trialled the technology on more than 120 patients with breast, lung or prostate cancers.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06 ... dangerous/

zulumoose wrote:I don't understand.

How can a cancer be present for 10 years before becoming dangerous? Isn't it the rapid growth of cancer cells that make them dangerous in the first place? So the first 10 years of rapid unchecked growth isn't dangerous and can go undetected?

Does not compute. What am I missing? The whole article cannot be read without subscription.

The errors that cause cancer are self-amplifying and compounding, for example:

A mutation in the error-correcting machinery of a cell might cause that cell and its children to accumulate errors more rapidly.
A further mutation in an oncogene might cause the cell to reproduce more rapidly and more frequently than its normal counterparts.
A further mutation may cause loss of a tumor suppressor gene, disrupting the apoptosis signaling pathway and immortalizing the cell.
A further mutation in the signaling machinery of the cell might send error-causing signals to nearby cells.
The transformation of a normal cell into cancer is akin to a chain reaction caused by initial errors, which compound into more severe errors, each progressively allowing the cell to escape more controls that limit normal tissue growth. This rebellion-like scenario is an undesirable survival of the fittest, where the driving forces of evolution work against the body's design and enforcement of order. Once cancer has begun to develop, this ongoing process, termed clonal evolution, drives progression towards more invasive stages.[70] Clonal evolution leads to intra-tumour heterogeneity (cancer cells with heterogeneous mutations) that complicates designing effective treatment strategies.

Macdoc wrote:yeah - needs some chasing and clarification.....consider the source as well...