Genetic tests could help in cancer fight

As researchers explain, nipping cancer in the bud is possible if people start early enough – that is, taking measures before a diagnosis, such as genetic testing.

And all the test needs is a sample of the subject’s blood.

The 10 milliliters of blood will go through a separation, amplification, comparative analysis and a host of other procedures. In the end, a report is produced on the cancers that the subject is most susceptible to and how they can be mitigated.

Wang Huan, a biomedical scientist who has made genetic-based analysis and prescription her career, and a “Beijing high-caliber talent from overseas,” went through the test herself.

Genetic tests and analyses may become the scout forces that help detect, and even prevent cancer from happening.

Wang, the head of Population and Precision Health Care Ltd, told CGTN that she had submitted her genes for the test and found that she stood a higher chance of breast cancer than the average Chinese woman.

She immediately adjusted her lifestyle to a less stressful one and changed her diet by consuming less oil and salt.

“The earlier you detect and make preparations for it, the better chance you have of not getting it at all," she said. "But even at stage one, breast cancer is 100 percent treatable.”

Cancer comes from a bad case of gene mutation.

It can be hereditary, but more often than not, it is caused by a hazardous environment or lifestyle.

The chances of getting cancer are highest when someone with susceptible genes is exposed to environments that will likely induce these mutations.

For example, 20 percent of Asians, including Chinese, have genes susceptible to lung cancer.

But many in China disregard that risk and continue to smoke and ignore safeguards against air pollution.

Now, the country is the number one lung cancer nation in the world.

Though the nascent genetic testing may help, scientists also caution that the practice is still at an early stage.

Though the nascent genetic testing may help, scientists also caution that the practice is still at an early stage. It might still have varying results on different types of prospective cancers and might not work so well for the general population.

But industry insiders say the practice is developing fast.

Dr Adam Deng of Geneis Co. in Beijing said, “In the last two years, we've seen a 20 to 30 percent increase in genetic screening and detection every year.”

And even though the chances of avoiding cancer altogether is uncertain, hopes are high that the process will work.

Dr Sarah Lotzof from Code You Genetics in UK, said, "It's not just the detection, it's the detection before someone gets symptoms. So you could add it to, for example, an annual health screening. Think of the thousands and thousands of lives you could save by detecting cancer before it showed symptoms, so you can treat it more precisely."

“As long as we start early, we can have survival rates as high as 70 percent," Wang Huan told CGTN. "I want to get this message about cancer across: It is treatable. It is preventable.”

And that drop of blood might possibly help.

(CGTN)