New Delhi, Dec 17 || A team of UK researchers has developed a pioneering blood test that could enable doctors to detect and monitor lung cancer in real time, which will help reduce diagnostic delays and improve patient outcomes.
Using the technique Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy, the team detected a single lung cancer cell in a patient's blood.
The technique combines advanced infrared scanning technology with computer analysis, focusing on the unique chemical fingerprint of cancer cells, said researchers from University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM), Keele University, and Loughborough University.
"This approach has the potential to help patients receive earlier diagnoses, personalised treatments, and fewer invasive procedures, and it could eventually be applied to many types of cancer beyond lung cancer," said lead author Professor Josep Sulé-Suso, Associate Specialist in Oncology at UHNM.
Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) are a type of cancer cell that can break away from a tumour and travel in the bloodstream. They can provide vital clues about how the disease is progressing and how well treatment is working. CTCs are also the cells that can lead to the spread of cancer (metastases).