A study revealed that a new examination that uses liquid blood biopsy can help detect the cases of head cancer and neck associated with HPV in HPV with a much higher accuracy than the currently used methods, even 10 years before the symptoms appear on patients.
Early detection of cancer using a liquid biopsy can achieve greater success in treatment, requires a less density therapeutic system and improve the care of cancer patients. Liquid blood biopsy is a blood test that reveals the DNA of the tumor.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Massachusetts General Medicine Center in the United States, and the results of the study were published in the Clinical Cancer Research Journal, and Newsweek wrote about it.
The HPV causes about 70% of the cases of oral pharynx cancers in the United States, which increases infection rates at a faster rate than all other head and neck cancer.
There are no tests for early detection of these cases, unlike cervical cancer that also causes this virus, which means that patients usually review doctors as soon as symptoms appear on them and they are diagnosed after the tumor grows and spreads to the lymph nodes, which requires treatments that may leave significant side effects.
“This is the first study that shows the possibility of careful and determined detection of head cancer and the positive neck of the HPV by examining blood years before symptoms appeared on patients, which enables the discovery and treatment of cancer in its early stages,” says Dr. Daniel Faden, head of head and neck surgery at Massachusetts Hospital in the United States.
All cases of study were for people with orally oral cancer for HPV, which is the most common type of head cancer and neck associated with the virus.
The developed biopsy
The examination -using the developed liquid biopsy tool “HPV -Deepsek” from parts of the viral genome, is the full genetic material of the virus, separated from the tumor and entered the bloodstream, along with nine other features in the blood.
Contrary to the current liquid methods, which target only two or two parts of the viral genome, this new tool is used as a complete genome sequence for HPV.
Previous research conducted by the same team showed that the examination is able to achieve 99% accuracy and sensitivity to diagnose cancer from the first visit of the clinic, surpassing the current test methods.
In the new study, the researchers examined 56 samples of the vital bank of Masashosts to determine whether the developed tool test was able to discover head cancer and neck associated with human papilloma virus long before diagnosis, and this included 28 samples of people who later had head cancer and neck associated with HPV after years, and 28 samples of safe people as a control group.
The study showed that the liquid biopsy tool revealed the DNA of the HPV in 22 blood samples out of 28 samples of patients who later had cancer, while the results of all the samples of the 28 control group were negative, indicating the accuracy of the high test.
Smart systems
The examination also showed a better ability to discover the DNA of HPV in blood samples that were collected closer than diagnosing patients. The first positive result of a blood sample was collected nearly 8 years before the diagnosis.
The researchers were able to improve and raise the accuracy of the examination using smart systems, so that they can accurately identify 27 of 28 cases of cancer, including samples collected 10 years before the diagnosis.
“Early detection can make a qualitative shift. If cancer diseases are discovered early and years ago, treatment can be done with minor procedures with side effects, lower costs and better living opportunities.”
The researchers are currently working after developing the new blood test to verify the authenticity of the results in a second study using hundreds of samples that were collected as part of the experience of examining prostate, lung, colon, rectum and ovary at the National Cancer Institute.
“We have not known for sure if we discover the cancer itself or the pre -cancer stage. The answer to this question is a major focus of our ongoing research,” Faden said.