An Automated System Has Been Developed [for Diagnosing Cancer And Metastases By Blood Analysis]

2023 Author: Abraham Higgins | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-30 04:59

An automated system has been developed [for diagnosing cancer and metastases by blood analysis]

American scientists have developed a diagnostic system that can detect cancer cells in a blood test, which is comparable in diagnostic accuracy to a tumor biopsy. It is expected to be used both for monitoring the development of the disease in identified patients and for screening for malignant tumors.

HD-CTC image: blood cells are highlighted in green-blue, cancer cell aggregate in red-blue. Developer illustration /

American scientists have developed a diagnostic system that can detect cancer cells in a blood test, which is comparable in diagnostic accuracy to a tumor biopsy, reports EurekAlert !.

"This is a next-generation technology. It significantly enhances our ability to track, predict and understand cancer progression, including metastasis, which is the leading cause of death in cancer patients," said development leader Peter Kuhn of the Scripps Research Institute at La Jolla. He added that in a number of situations, the technique approaches the efficiency of a surgical biopsy.

A new diagnostic system called HD-CTC (for circulating tumor cells) uses a digital microscope and imaging software to analyze a blood sample, separating potentially malignant cells from red blood cells and leukocytes. The image of the selected "suspicious" cells with morphological signs of tumor is then presented to the histologist, who makes a final conclusion.

Five studies of the new technique have shown that compared with currently used "enrichment" systems (such as CellSearch), which concentrate atypical cells, it is much less likely to screen out cancer cells in the preparatory stage, which reduces the risk of false negative results.

During the experiments, HD-CTC was able to detect metastatic tumors in 43-80 percent of volunteers (depending on the specific type of cancer), including in the early stages of the disease, without a single false positive conclusion.

In addition, the new system provides high-quality, high-resolution images of tumor cells and their aggregates. As Kuhn explained, the system's settings can also be easily modified to identify cells of a different type or in a different way.

HD-CTC is expected to be used both for monitoring the development of the disease in identified patients and for screening for malignant tumors.