Cancer has become a tops along with cardiovascular disease as leading causes of death in industrialized countries. Many cases of cancer only get diagnosed after the tumour has developed extensively, decreasing chances of recovery. Cure rates for prostate cancer is 32%, and 11% for colon cancer. Ability to detect tumours early and reliably would save a significant amount of lives and decreases need for lengthy, stressful, expensive treatments.
Researchers have presented a possible solution for early warning via a synthetic gene network which will recognize lung, breast, prostate, and colon cancer at early stages when the level of calcium within blood becomes elevated due to tumour development. As calcium levels exceed a threshold value over a period of time signal cascade is triggered, which initiates production of the body’s tanning pigment melanin within the synthetic genetically modified cells, which forms a brown mole visible to the naked eye, that appears before the cancer becomes detectable through current conventional diagnosis. Mole appearance does not mean the person is likely to die, rather it means a tumour is developing in very early stages to seek clarification and treatment.
Calcium was used as indicator as it regulated strongly within the body. Bones serve as buffer which can balance concentration differences, when too much calcium is detected this may serve as a warning sign that one of the four cancers is present. Early detection greatly increases chances of survival and elimination. If breast cancer is detected early there is a 98% chance of recovery, if diagnosed too late sadly that number drops greatly to being only one in four having a good chance of recovery. Typically people don’t know and only go to see a doctor when the tumour begins to cause issues, which unfortunately is too late by that point most often.
The synthetic early warning implant is primarily for self monitoring and is cost effective. An implant can also be used which develops a mark which is only visible under a red light which could be checked out by their doctor for those that may think the other method carries too much stress as an added advantage. Disadvantage would be that this implant service life is limited to about one year according to their studies, after which it must be inactivated and replaced. Biomedical tattoo is another concept is also a new finding that is also applicable to other gradually developing illness such as hormonal disorders and neurodegenerative diseases in which the team would replace the molecular sensor to measure biomarkers other than calcium.
The prototype early warning system has been functioning reliably during lab tests on model mouse and pig skin. It is noted that there still is a way to go before human testing can begin, sighting continued development and clinical trials are labor extensive and expensive, which the research group can not afford on their own, the team would like to promote translation of developments so one day they will lead to applicable products, estimating that it will take at least ten years of research and development to bring the cancer diagnostics implant to market maturity.
