Breakthrough in Early Cancer Detection
URL: http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/earlycancerscreening.jsp
Publisher: National Science Foundation
Date of Publication: January 9, 2012
Summary:
The video begins with the story of Melissa Chartrand and her battle with
ovarian cancer. The video then focuses on to Vadim Backman, a biomedical engineer
at Northwestern University. Using his research, he and his team have begun
developing a new form of microscopy. The general idea is that light will be
shined off of cells and depending on the angle in which photons bounce off of
structures in the cell, doctors and biologists can determine whether or not the
cell is healthy. This technology has already been tested using cheek tissue to detect
lung cancer and hopely will have other uses.
Relevance:
The main focus of this technology is to detect cancer at an early stage when it is most treatable. During Chapter 9, we
learned about cancer. Cancer is caused when there is a major disruption to the
cell that affects how it performs the cell cycle. A cancerous cell leads to
uncontrolled division. The video also mentions chemotherapy, which was also
something we learned about in Chapter 9. Chemotherapy is a certain type of treatment
for cancer that involves drugs that disrupt cell division. One last connection
to our studies is through the use of cheek cells. While testing the technology,
Vadim's team harvested cheeks cells much like we did in our own lab.
Hi Leanne, this is my question:
ReplyDeleteIs this new technology used for only ovarian and lung cancer or has it been used to detect other cancers as well?
So far, Vadim Backman and his team have tested this new technology with colon, pancreatic, and lung cancer. Further testing on the ability of this new technology to accurately diagnose if a patient has cancer or not will decide if the technology will be used to detect other cancers.
DeleteTo find out more info you can use this link: http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2010/10/lung-cancer-detection.html
That is where I got the information to answer your question.
Will they start to use this new technology even though they are only 90% sure it is accurate?
ReplyDeleteHi Lindsey!
DeleteBefore this technology can be used in the medical field, many more validation trials will need to be performed. However, if the accuracy rate of the testing continues to be high, meaning the technology is successfuly able to tell if a patient has cancer or not, the technology will be used to help diagnose cancer at an early stage.
Also, you can find out more information at:
Deletehttp://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2010/10/lung-cancer-detection.html
That is the site I was able to use to answer your question.