This article from the public number: qubit (ID: QbitAI), Author: thirteen, can rely on, from the bottom of the recessed non-Temple

Breakthrough in the blood test for cancer came: “It can detect 13 early cancers with an accuracy rate of 99%. Empirical tests will start next year.”

At first glance, there is absolutely great progress.

So when the news came out, it immediately aroused attention and appeared on Weibo’s hot search-but the heated discussion was not all anticipation, and the accompanying development was more questioning .

Because of such black technology development, there has been the infamous female version of Jobs’ “Silicon Valley scam” before.

The difference is that this progress comes from Toshiba, a well-known Japanese technology company, and is reported by mainstream Japanese media. Experimental data and results are also announced.

So this time a drop of blood for early cancer detection , what exactly is going on, and is it reliable?

Let’s take a closer look at it.

The effect is claimed to be too amazing

How powerful is it?

Multiple : 13 types of cancers, including gastric cancer and colorectal cancer, can be detected.

Quick : Results can be produced within 2 hours after detection;

Good : Accuracy can be as high as 99%;

Province : the price is controlled at about 1300 yuan

Currently, the main method of cancer diagnosis is biopsy. (It sounds so painful) Diseased tissue or cells.

For more accurate results, the best method is to perform special tests, such as screening for esophagus, stomach, and bowel cancer, for gastroscopy, low-dose CT for lung cancer, and color Doppler ultrasound and alpha-fetus For protein detection, etc., the price ranges from several hundred yuan to thousands of yuan.

Even so, it is difficult to detect early cancer abnormalities from the instrument inspection screen alone.

But the technology claims: “I can.”

Next, Tokyo Medical University and the National Cancer Research Center will also participate in this research and development, hoping to be officially used within a few years.

What is it?

According to the Japan Times (The Japan Times) , Toshiba describes their method like this:

MicroRNA (microRNA, miRNA) molecules secreted in the blood Concentration, 13 types of cancer can be found at very early stages.

Hiroshi Hashimoto, chief scientist of the company’s cutting-edge research laboratory (Koji Hashimoto) Say:

Compared with other companies’ methods, we have advantages in the accuracy, time and cost of cancer detection.

miRNA is a tiny non-coding RNA molecule that is a key regulator of gene expression. Many human cancers are directly related to dysregulated expression of microRNAs.

It is secreted from cells and is found in a variety of body fluids, including blood, saliva and urine. In these body fluids, their content is stable.

This makes microRNA an ideal biological indicator for detecting cancer. This is also a hot area for medical scientists to study the early diagnosis of cancer.

Blood testing often requires a sufficient sample size to obtain biological indicators. Moreover, because the testing process is destructive to the sample, a sample can only be used for a certain type of test at one time.

So, Toshiba researchers developed a multiplexed system that uses an electrochemical DNA chip that can quantify different target sequences simultaneously (target sequence) .

Mature miRNAs are detected using this system.

The principle of miRNA amplification based on RT, EL and LAMP reactions

The miRNA extracted from the serum is reverse transcribed by (reverse-transcription) and extended by (elongation reaction) , enzymatically (enzymatically) extended to about 100 base pairs.

LAMP primers (primer) is used to amplify miRNA, which is adsorbed and fixed at five different positions on the surface of the flow channel .

The LAMP solution containing extended miRNA, Tin DNA polymerase and RuHex was injected into the DNA chip as a redox compound.

Behavior of primers in the flow path of DNA chip

(A) A silica gel module with primers at 5 different positions in the DNA chip flow channel. The arrows indicate the positions of the primers that were dried on the surface of the silica module. The dashed line indicates the inner wall of the flow channel. The channel width is 1 mm.

(B) After the injection of the LAMP solution, the primer fluorescence image.

(C) Fluorescence images of primers after 65 minutes of LAMP reaction at 65 ° C.

(D) LAMP fluorescence images reacted with 106 samples for 30 min at 65 ° C.

This is how Toshiba researchers detect miRNAs secreted in the blood, and it is the foundation of a “blood test for cancer.”

Actually, this method does not sound logically different from the “female version of Jobs” story.

Take out the experimental results

But unlike Elizabeth ’s airless results, Toshiba did give some experimental results this time.

The electrochemical reaction of RuHex in LAMP solution was continuously measured by linear scanning voltammetry:

The LAMP response of the positive control showed that the cathode peak current of RuHex increased.

In addition, when the cathode current starts to increase, the number of initial copies of miRNA is time-dependent.

Within 2 hours, 5 miRNAs can be detected in 103−106 samples (copy) per 50 μL.

RuHex electrochemical detection in LAMP solution

(A) LSV without miRNA.

(B) There are 106 <.sup> LSVs of miR-1307-3p.

(C) Real-time Ipc curve of RuHex response to miR-1307-3p LAMP.

(D) Calibration plot of logarithmic input of Ti and initial miR-1307-3p (n = 2).

Correlative graphs of quantitative results of miRNA determined by DNA chip and qRT-PCR (n = 5). The horizontal and vertical axes are in log units (initial copy of miRNA).

Researchers said:

These results show that the newly developed DNA chip can be used for multiplex real-time LAMP quantification of miRNA extracted from serum, and the experiment time can be completed within 2 hours.

Reliable?

Generally speaking, new biotechnology advances related to human life are often expected.

But this time, public opinion feedback was not “friendly.”

Because of Toshiba ’s various expressions about “blood drop cancer test”, it is too easy to think of Yin Jian’s “Silicon Valley scam”.

Earlier, “Female Jobs” Elizabeth Holmes and her Theranos once claimed that 240 medical reports of body tests can be completed with a drop of blood.

At that time, with this technological breakthrough and strong publicity and marketing, Elizabeth Holmes’ medical company was valued at 9 billion U.S. dollars and was already the youngest billionaire at 30 years old. Attracted support from American celebrity platforms including Kissinger and Murdoch.

More importantly, don’t get 999, just $ 2.99.

The result is that what they call “new technology” is simply buying a machine from another company for a simple modification.

It was then deeply skinned by the Wall Street Journal to expose the scam. A billion-dollar super unicorn quickly disappeared …

It also plunged the industry into a wolf.

So this time, for this Toshiba research, naturally related to the “female version of Jobs” incident, netizens’ comments are also mixed:

There are clear questions, netizen dannykwells:

No meaningful paper published + “slogan” shouted a lot + a drop of blood = second-generation Teranos company.

But some people choose to support it first, netizens pkaye:

In other studies mentioning this technology, sensitivity and selectivity are only 90% and 95% respectively, which is far from enough for a serious disease such as cancer. I hope their Technology can improve.

“Sensitivity” and “specificity” are two indicators for evaluating cancer detection. “Sensitivity” refers to whether a sample with cancer can be detected, and “specificity” refers to the ability to accurately exclude non-cancer sample.

So in a nutshell, although Japanese products and technologies are world-renowned for their “quality and quantity”, the technology of “blood detection of cancer” is a bit too magical.

What’s the real effect? ​​Toshiba may need more data and experimental results.

It is worth mentioning that Early diagnosis of cancer through blood testing is not a new topic , and it has always been the direction of scientists’ efforts.

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) , a Silicon Valley health care company called GRAIL introduced that Blood testTest for 10 types of cancer.

But this is only a preliminary test. Before going out of the laboratory, a lot of research is needed.

Stover, the research scientist, said, “Obviously, we all like a test that is sensitive enough and specific enough to require only one blood draw, but the obstacle is very large.”

But some netizens also specifically mentioned that the reason why you can keep expecting Japanese technology is because Toshiba technology is different from other companies’ technologies:

Many companies are working on early cancer screening using cell-free DNA. GRAIL and Freenome are famous examples. Few people seem to be focusing on miRNA-based methods like Toshiba.

So whether Toshiba ’s new developments will be another “bad blood” scam, maybe we will know after the trial starts next year.

What do you think?

Reference link:

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/11/25/business/corporate-business / toshiba-test-cancer-blood / #. XdxyvzIzZo4

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.analchem.8b05284/suppl_file/ac8b05284_si_001.pdf

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/blood-test-detect-detect-cancer-at-earlier-stages#2