GRAIL Announces Method to Detect Cancer Origin with 100% Accuracy
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A press release issued by GRAIL earlier this year announced data collected from a recent study. The company was able to utilize their Methylation Technology in order to not only provide successful early detection of the deadliest cancers, but could also be helpful in detecting the origin of cancer.
Researchers who compiled the press release announced that the test is able to provide an accuracy of up to 100% when used in the detection of certain cancers.
The data that have been collected thus far by GRAIL with the utilization of the company’s Methylation Technology is to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting this year.
Recent Findings And Announcements By GRAIL’s Research Team
On the 15th of May, 2019, GRAIL published an official press release on their website (1), providing details on recent findings that researchers at the company will discuss at the next American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.
In this press release, researchers explain that the latest findings in data recording from the Methylation Technology that has been developed by the company have presented the ability to detect the origin of cancer.
This is considered a breakthrough in the medical technology, especially due to the high accuracy that has been achieved by the scientists behind this technology.
A previous publication by the company announced the ability of the Methylation Technology to detect the presence of deadly cancers at a very early stage.
Furthermore, the evidence that was provided at the time proved a high specificity – which means there was a significantly lower risk of a false positive testing result, especially when compared to other types of diagnostic tools and strategies that are used in the medical industry.
With the most recent announcement, the scientists presented details of the ability to actually detect the origin of the tumor tissue.
What this essentially means is that the company is able to use a blood sample of a patient to know exactly where a tumor has originated from – or where it initially started to grow.
During the study, a total of 166 patients were analyzed. Blood samples were collected from all the participants. There was a very high accuracy found in the detection of the tumor tissue’s origin. Results presented in the press release stated the following accuracy marks:
For breast cancer, there was a 96% accuracy in the detection of tumor tissue origin
For lung cancer cases, there was a recorded accuracy of 88%
The accuracy in the detection of tumor origin was highest among cases of pancreatic cancer, with a 100% recorded accuracy rating
Among patients with liver cancer, there was a 90% accuracy in the detection of tumor origin
Know Your Risk
The Global Impact Of Cancer
Cancer is one of the most well-known diseases and it is no news that this family of conditions claims the lives of millions – every single year. According to the National Cancer Institute (2), more than 1.7 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed, on average, every year in the United States.
These data points only account for one country – take that into account for a moment. In addition to these new diagnoses, the same publication reports an estimated 609,640 deaths from cancer alone in the year 2018.
Certain cancers are more common than others. Some of the more commonly diagnosed cancers include breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer (3).
Furthermore, it is also important to consider the fact that some cancers are considered more deadly or serious than others. These generally include lung cancer, bronchial cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, leukemia, and prostate cancer (4).
The good news is, with current research being done, it is estimated that the cancer survival rate may soon start to improve. At the moment, however, many studies are still at a stage where further research is needed to provide a more effective approach to the treatment of cancer.
Source: REVELATION
Current Issues With The Detection Of Cancer
One of the biggest issues that are currently being faced by the medical industry regarding cancer lies with the detection of the disease. Early detection is critical when it comes to improving the chances of survival in a patient.
According to Cancer Research UK (5), a patient has an estimated 80% chance of surviving a minimum of one year when they obtain a diagnosis at an early stage of lung cancer. When the diagnosis is only made during a more advanced stage of lung cancer, however, the chances of survival drop to an estimated 15%.
In one research paper (6), it is noted that there are multiple concerns that are being faced at the moment when it comes to improving cancer survival rate. For example, there is a large potential for errors in diagnostics at the moment.
Diagnostic uncertainty also makes for a big problem in the modern-day. Furthermore, the fact that there may be a lack of access to imaging technologies and other important diagnostic tests in some areas makes it even more difficult to assure early diagnosis and treatment of these diseases in some populations.
Where Does GRAIL Fit Into The Medical Industry?
Before we continue to look closer at the latest data that was presented, let’s first consider where exactly GRAIL, the company presenting this data, fits in. GRAIL is a research company that has a very important role to play in the medical industry, in fact.
This healthcare company was founded with a mission to develop methods that can help to make the early detection of cancer possible, and also more readily available to the population.
The primary aim of the studies that are being used by GRAIL is to focus on detecting the more dangerous kinds of cancers during very early stages. The technology that is used by the company is able to provide a detection of cancer in the human body at a stage that is much earlier compared to other existing technologies.
With such an early diagnosis of cancer, it means the patient would be able to undergo treatment before the cancer spreads to other parts of their body, and before they enter a more advanced stage of the disease – where the chances of survival become significantly lower.
Source: Vox
What We Know About The GRAIL Methylation Technology
Methylation is a process that occurs naturally within the human body. It is related to the expression of genes – methylation, in particular, refers to a process that regulates the gene expression of the DNA. The process is sometimes also referred to as DNA methylation.
This is a particular topic that is gaining an increasing amount of interest in a variety of medical fields – with cancer being just one of the important areas that can truly benefit from advancements in the understanding of how DNA methylation works and how this data can be used to benefit of the human population.
GRAIL is hard at work developing what they call a Next-Generation Sequencing Blood Test system. This particular system takes advantage of what is already known about methylation.
The special methylation technology that has been designed by the researchers at GRAIL combines the brains of expert scientists, together with many advancements that have been made in artificial intelligence. In turn, this helps to take a simple blood test and turn it into a powerful material for the early diagnostics of cancer.
At the moment, over 30 million methylation areas across the human genome are covered by the system that has been developed by GRAIL.
Furthermore, there are over 20 different types of cancers that have already been thoroughly studied by the research team, with extensive data on these cancers forming part of the database that this particular system utilizes.
Know Your Risk
Conclusion
Cancer is often a deadly disease, claiming the lives of millions every year. The disease can affect any part of the body, and without early detection, tends to grow and may even spread to other regions.
Early detection can mean the difference between life and death, but current diagnostic tools do not always provide accurate data, especially when there are no symptoms that may signal the presence of the disease.
With the advancements that have been made by GRAIL, we are hoping to see some of the more deadly cancer types being detected earlier in the near future, which could mean a significant decline in the death rates caused by these specific types of cancers.
Sources
1. GRAIL Announces Promising New Data with Early Detection Blood Test to be Presented at 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. GRAIL. https://grail.com/press-releases/grail-announces-promising-new-data-with-early-detection-blood-test-to-be-presented-at-2019-american-society-of-clinical-oncology-annual-meeting/
2. Cancer Statistics. National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics
3. The 13 Most Common Cancer Types. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/most-common-cancers
4. The 10 Deadliest Cancers and Why There’s No Cure. LiveScience. https://www.livescience.com/11041-10-deadliest-cancers-cure.html
5. Why is early diagnosis important? Cancer Research UK. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-symptoms/why-is-early-diagnosis-important
6. Improving Cancer Diagnosis and Care: Patient Access to Oncologic Imaging and Pathology Expertise and Technologies: Proceedings of a Workshop. The National Academics of Sciences Engineering Medicine. https://www.nap.edu/read/25163/chapter/3#7