“With only 4 of the 20 most common cancers in the United States having a diagnostic method to reduce mortality by identifying injuries at an early stage, such devices are urgently needed for high-frequency malignancies other, ”the report states.
The American Cancer Society worked with experts in the field to establish research opportunities that could lead to the development of better screening methods in the future. These included:
- Better understanding of the molecular composition of early stage cancer and primary disease
- Determining how the microenvironment of the tumor leads to a transition from premalignant to preinvasive to invasive disease
- Creating better technologies for screening, early detection, and risk stratification
- Improving the ways in which biomarkers are analyzed and detected with minimal flow
- Establishes how public health genes can influence detailed public health when it comes to cancer screening and earlier detection
- Find ways to use artificial intelligence or learn next-generation tools and technologies (accessible devices, etc.) to help with cancer screening and early detection.
Despite these large gaps, there have still been great strides in detecting cancer and better understanding the biology of disease.
For example, thanks to a lip biopsy, patients can undergo a blood test that provides vital information about free tumor cell proliferation, DNA or RNA-based and cancer-derived products.
“Melt biopsy offers many advantages over traditional biopsy,” the report states. “It is minimally aggressive, usually unrestricted in terms of sample availability and accessibility, and practical for repeat sampling, which may assist clinicians during screening and examination as well as postdiagnosis to understand better understand the molecular changes that occur in tumors over time. ”
In addition, researchers each year learn more about making cancer biomarkers, and these findings remain the backbone for more personalized and effective cancer treatment.
The report’s authors hope that advances in genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics will be used further to develop better cancer screening as well as improve the cancer screening methods currently available – although not these efforts have not yet been fruitful.
“With the advancement of metabolic profiling technologies, special efforts have been made over the past decade to clinically exploit cancer-specific metabolism to aid in cancer detection,” the report states. “So far, translation and a clinical facility has been a disappointment.”
Ultimately, although 2020 has found a scientific discovery that will improve cancer treatment, there is still much work to be done in 2021 and beyond.