Blood test to diagnose skin cancer
Australian researchers have recently developed a revolutionary blood test to diagnose skin cancer much more quickly and efficiently than conventional methods.
The ground-breaking “liquid biopsy” test will be made available at Melbourne’s Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI), Victoria State’s Health Minister Jill Hennessy said on Friday.
Prior to the development of this new test, melanomas could only be further identified by a complex and invasive surgery, results from which could take weeks to be obtained, Xinhua news agency reported.
The blood test can also provide the same information in a matter of hours from a simple blood test, potentially further saving millions of lives worldwide.
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Blood Test to diagnose Skin cancer
Once the skin cancer has been identified via the new test, oncologists can quickly tailor the most appropriate treatment for each individual patient, potentially preventing the cancer from spreading to the bloodstream.
“We are putting cancer patients first and are investing in world-leading cancer research and future technologies that have the power to save our lives,” Hennessy told reporters in Melbourne.
“It will mean patients can get diagnosed and then be treated sooner, without having to endure long and anxious waits and invasive and painful surgery.”
Frank McGuire, Parliamentary Secretary for Medical Research, said that the development was the latest example of Victoria’s commitment to cancer research.
“This new blood test is a great example of how we are rapidly turning around breakthroughs in cancer research into clinical practice with real benefits for cancer patients,” McGuire said.
In addition to this diagnosing the cancer quicker the blood test can further also tell doctors when a treatment will stop working, allowing them to change medications before a patient’s condition starts to decline.
