Regular Testing and Early Detection
The second important strategy to fight against cancer is
to do regular testing. If anything on
your body appears suspicious, it is much easier to deal with it in the early
stage. If you remember the analogy of
taking care of the lawn, dealing with just a few dandelions in the early stage
is much easier than dealing with a whole bunch of dandelions in the later
stage. This strategy works similarly in
cancer treatment; early detection is the best way to start dealing with cancer.
Self-Examination
Self-awareness
and self-examination are very important in cancer screening. Let’s briefly use skin cancer as an example. Skin cancers found and removed early are
almost always curable. Self-examination
of the skin is not too difficult to perform except the back for that you may need
someone else to help. Basically, one
should look carefully for any new or changing lesions that might be cancerous
or precancerous. If you spot anything suspicious, see a doctor. Self-examination should be done regularly; it
is a small investment but it could be life-saving.
For
other cancer such as breast cancer and testicular cancer, self-examination can
also be very important. Because
different types of cancer require different techniques in self-examination, we
won’t go into too many details. It is
suggested that you look up the self-examination procedure for individual
cancers from other resources and consult with your physician.
Cancer Screening by Professionals
As mentioned, early detection is a very important step
in fighting against cancer. If any
cancer is detected early, it is much easier to treat. I have several relatives diagnosed with cancer
early enough and they are all doing well for over five years.
Indeed, cancer screening by medical professionals is
very important. However, one needs to
keep in mind that some tests might create certain potential issues. For example, some tests might give
false-positive results, wherein the results indicate that cancer may be present
but it is in fact not present. Also,
some test might show the false-negative results indicating cancer is not there
although cancer is present. Therefore,
it is a good idea to have the screening done by a different method or by a
second lab in order to be absolutely sure. Sometimes, it may be necessary to do a biopsy
for cancer screening.
New Cancer Diagnosis
One
of the new methods in cancer diagnosis is the use of liquid biopsy. Liquid biopsy is different from traditional
biopsy wherein a tiny piece of living tissues is removed for diagnostic
testing. Basically, in liquid biopsy, a
small quantity of body fluid (blood, urine, etc.), instead of a tissue part, is
taken for cancer diagnosis.
Nowadays,
the term, liquid biopsy, is becoming more popular in the field of cancer
diagnosis and management. Modern
biotechnologies make it easier to detect more biomarkers more sensitively.
For
cancer liquid biopsies, the analyses are basically done on three categories: circulating
tumor cells (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), and exosomes. Detection of CTCs was first thought to be a
useful tool many years ago but never became practical. In recent years, due to advanced
biotechnologies, the analysis of ctDNA or exosomes is becoming more
practical. Liquid biopsies make it
easier for gene profiling and to identify which mutations are driving the
growth of cancer. At the present time,
some companies are already offering liquid biopsy tests for gene alterations to
help cancer treatment.
What
are the advantages of liquid biopsy as compared to conventional biopsy? For a conventional biopsy, a small piece of potential
tumor tissue is taken; it could be painful and might not be a true
representation of the molecular profile. On the other hand, liquid biopsy is non-invasive and less painful. In addition, it could detect the heterogeneity
of cancer. Therefore, it is easier to
take a series of samples so that the tumor genomic can be monitored in a time
course and easier to make adjustment in cancer treatment. Furthermore, liquid biopsies can be used as a
potential screen for cancer.
Although
liquid biopsy does not completely replace regular biopsy, it can be very useful
in some cases, particularly in cancer diagnostics. For example, when a tumor is located at some
site that is not easily accessible, regular biopsy could require more work and
the patient may suffer significant pain.
In terms of early detection, liquid biopsy may be used to identify ctDNA
to detect potential tumor that is not known or identified by other methods.
© Jiajiu Shaw, 2018
Disclaimer: This blog is written solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute the practice of any medical, nursing or other medical professional health care advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All contents posted are extracted from the book I wrote, "IS CANCER IN US", published recently.
