Rebecca Smith
How To Know If You Have Cancer – June 28, 2017 (HealthDay News) — With skin cancer being the most common cancer in the United States, you need to learn to recognize its early signs, an oncologist says.
“Early detection is key, and when caught early, many skin cancers can be effectively treated and often cured,” Dr. Jeffrey Forma, MD, oncologist at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.
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“Individuals play an important role in early detection,” the Center for Pharmacology said in a press release. “You can apply it to your skin tags, such as corns, freckles, and blemishes, and notice the change.”
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Her advice: Have your skin checked by a doctor or dermatologist every year, and use a mirror every month to check your skin for signs of cancer.
Using the ABCDs of skin cancer can help detect potential problems, including the deadliest cancer, melanoma, he said.
B is for borders. Benign melanomas often have smooth, even borders, while melanomas have undifferentiated borders.
C is for color. A multi-colored mole (blue, black, brown, tan, etc.) or uneven color distribution can sometimes be a warning sign of melanoma. Good quality is usually brown or light brown.
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D is for diameter. Melanoma lesions are larger than 6 millimeters in diameter, about the size of a pencil eraser.
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“If a mole or mole has changed color and/or size recently, see your doctor immediately to determine the cause,” Pharma said. “Remember that skin cancer affects people of all skin colors, regardless of skin color.” New research identifies species recommended for screening in experimental blood tests and other species for which screening tests are not available.
In the first study of its kind, blood tests were combined with imaging to detect tumors in women with no history or symptoms.
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Blood tests can detect breast, lung, and colon cancers, which recommend screening. But it also identified seven other types for which there is no screening test.
Researchers led by Nicholas Papadopoulos, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, designed this blood test to see if it is possible to detect symptoms before they appear. They also want to make sure that the testing process does not stress the participants or lead to many unnecessary research procedures.
The study was not conducted to find out who was known in the trial and to determine whether the treatment reduced mortality among the participants.
Despite resistance, early detection does not reduce the risk of death, explained Dr. David Ransuhoff of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Center, who was not involved in the study. Some studies actually do more harm than good, he said. Ransohoff.
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Such potential harm includes early stages in a person’s life that does not affect them, called overdiagnosis, or events that lead to unnecessary lethal procedures or treatments.
The study, which used a blood test with a standard imaging technique, found 26 seconds among 10,000 study participants. The test also gave some positive findings, meaning that some women indicated that they would not take the test again.
However, only 38 women who received a positive test result had a follow-up test after the initial imaging, and most of these women tested negative or minimally.
Sudher Srivastava, PhD, MD, director of the NCI’s Division of Prevention, explained that a larger study could examine exactly whether such tests can reduce mortality.
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“But it does significant research in terms of concept, design and application. It can show how screens will work in the future.”
All tumors, however small, maintain a connection to the blood to absorb the nutrients they need. This communication goes both ways, and viruses and genetic material are transferred from the tumor into the blood.
Researchers have developed what is known as a liquid biopsy to encourage the tumor to bleed into the bloodstream. This test uses blood (or other body fluids) to detect or trace the abnormality of the person being treated.
And “our studies are at the forefront of the potential impact of this experiment. That’s the biggest challenge,” said Dr. David Huntsman of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, speaking at the AACR meeting. “Investigation requires high sensitivity and near-precision.” That means the screen test should be good enough to find. You should not identify people as they are when they do not know.
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Dr. Papadopoulos and his colleagues have been developing a test called SEEK for more than a decade. The system used in this study detected 16 gene mutations associated with circulating tumor DNA fragments. It also measures blood levels of 9 different proteins produced by certain species. In 2018, the team published results showing that another version of the test correctly identified most women with endometriosis and a third of women with ovarian cysts.
But the women in the study were already known to exist. These types of diseases are larger, more advanced and easier to diagnose than early diseases that are not detected, the doctor explained. Papadopoulos.
To see if SEEK could detect small, previously unseen s, researchers enrolled 10,600 women ages 65 to 75 in a study called DETECT-A. They include only women, increasing the possibility of removing the ovaries, which is not always detected until an advanced stage and there is no approved screening test.
Several measures were taken during the trial to reduce the number of women who had stressful or unnecessary diagnostic procedures.
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For example, after enrolling in a trial, women are told that they may be randomly contacted for a second blood test regardless of the initial results. This reduces the possibility of being afraid to call to confirm a positive result on the first test. Genetic counselors are available to participants at all stages of the trial, and in later stages women are strongly encouraged to undergo standard screening tests as recommended.
If a woman has an elevated gene or protein in her first blood test, she will be called for a second test. If the second test comes back positive, and other health conditions cannot explain the test results, they refer for a whole body PET-CT scan. Only participants with suspicious PET-CT imaging results were referred to an oncologist for further evaluation.
Of the 10,600 women enrolled in the study, 26 eventually received a diagnosis that was discovered through a blood test.
Of those 26, 14 were in organs such as the ovaries, kidneys, and lymphatic system, with no validated diagnostic tests. Nine of them did not disperse from their original position.
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Compared to more common diseases, such diseases have a “higher chance of successful treatment,” he said. Papadopoulos.
During the test, an additional 24 s of standard tests, not determined by blood tests, were performed: 20 breast, 3 lung, and 1 rectal. In 24 seconds, 22 initial stages.
In addition, 46 women in the study received a diagnosis that was not detected by regular blood tests or screening. Most of these 46 studies occurred after women reported symptoms.
“So this type of [blood] test can be done safely without causing many unnecessary follow-up tests based on the test results,” Dr. Yes.’ Papadopoulos.
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Another report at the same meeting at the AACR showed the success of additional liquid biopsy tests in people who had already undergone a suspicious test.
“Both studies show that we are moving in the right direction. But we’re not there.” Huntsman. These tests should appear to reduce the chance of death to “bring it to a level where these tests are acceptable.”
The SEEK group is planning a larger study with the goal of getting FDA approval, he said. Papadopoulos. This study was similar in design to DETCT-A, but included more men and age groups. It also uses a new version of the WATCH test.
But FDA approval would be the first step in such testing. Ransoff warned. “Upper limits are set by the US Preventive Services Task Force and … medical institutions and … payers.