Science has cornered the “silent bomb”

There it is, silence. For many decades of a person’s life, we do not notice his existence. It performs its invisible function and simply prepares itself for aging. But few men will live to be fifty without noticing their existence. The prostate is a specifically male organ that has the greatest clinical significance. And science continues to make progress in this direction.

The last one comes from the hand National Cancer Institute and US National Institutes of Health, and refers to the biggest problem associated with this gonad: the possibility of suffering from metastatic cancer. Research published in Jama Network Openshows that simple blood test can be used for predict survival patients diagnosed with this pathology in the final stages. Specifically, the analysis measures circulating tumor cells.

The idea is to use new technologies for so-called “liquid biopsy”, developed under the commercial name “CellSearch”. It involves injecting tiny immunomagnetic spheres that attach to tumor cells. These particles are usually impregnated with monoclonal antibodies, a kind of radar that can detect the presence of a malignant cell. Then they are separated from the rest so that it is easier to count the number of pathological bodies circulating in the blood. The study suggests that Patients whose blood tests show more than five CTCs (circulating tumor cells) have a shorter median survival. and it is much more likely that the cancer will progress.

When detected early, prostate cancer is one of the most easily treatable tumor pathologies with the best prognosis. However, when it reaches the metastatic phase, treatment becomes more difficult. Thus, liquid biopsy is a fundamental tool for making rapid decisions to improve prognosis.

Mortality is inversely proportional to the wealth of a country.

According to a statistical review published this year by the magazine Lancet, By 2040, the number of prostate cancer cases worldwide will double. will increase from approximately 1.4 million cases per year to almost 3 million. He number of deaths caused by this disease, it is expected that will increase by 85% over the next two decades, will reach 700,000 deaths globally. Most of these deaths will occur in countries with low economic resources. In fact, in rich countries, the number of deaths from this disease has continued to decline since 1990.

However, prostate tumor continues to be one of the most common causes of death in men and represents 15% of all male cancer pathologies. It is clear that age is the main risk factor for this disease, so the number of cases is expected to increase in parallel with increasing life expectancy.

In this scenario, prevention and early detection strategies are vital. In most developed countries, the established protocol is to conduct regular blood tests to check PSA levels (Prostate-specific antigen), warning of possible pathology. But the truth is that in many cases, a high PSA level does not indicate a real risk (in fact, it often detects a tumor that will never show symptoms or require treatment), which can lead to overdiagnosis and take unnecessary therapeutic measures. For example, perform a biopsy.

According to Lancet, PSA monitoring after age 50 is a useful but not ideal tool. Many future cancers in old age will be detected, but early cancers in younger people remain unreported.

In this sense, new technological progress can solve the problem. Scientists from the German cancer research center DKFZ have developed An artificial intelligence program that promises to improve the ability to predict prostate cancer in the future. To develop it, they used thousands of magnetic resonance images of diagnosed patients. The algorithm uses a combination of data obtained from these images, the patient’s PSA analysis, and other clinical variables.

After using this new tool, scientists confirmed that 49% of patients who underwent biopsy could in fact be classified as “low risk” and avoid intervention. The idea is to be able to combine the use of resonances and “deep learning” tools in the future to more accurately refine diagnoses, reduce resources used in unnecessary treatments, and, of course, improve the therapy received by patients who truly need the approach. . urgently and accurately.