Quick Prostate Cancer Check With Chemical Test
According to a recent research carried out by some eminent researchers, doctors may shortly come up with a technique which can diagnoses prostate cancer by measuring chemical compounds rather than the conventional blood test.
In a recent telephonic interview, David Parker of Durham University concluded that the test can produce a fingerprint of citrate - a chemical that falls in the prostate gland with the gradual development of cancer. The designer of the chemical test further explained that, citrate formed in cell metabolism processes act as a biomarker for disease, citrate levels in prostate fluid fall as prostate cancer progresses. Thus it provides reliable method for screening and detecting prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is known to be the second most common diseases that men all across the globe are affected with. It falls second only to lung cancer and devours as many as 254,000 men each year all over the world.
Almost all the cancer specialists advise a blood test to male-folks over 50 years of age. This blood test is called prostate-specific antigen test, and is popularly known as the PSA test. Doctors and specialists believe that early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer is better than at a later stage, as it stands a better chance of controlling the spreading of the disease.
Most of the prostate tumors take time to grow and gradually cause harm. Studies revealed that many prostate cancer patients are even living with the harsh effects caused by aggressive hormone therapies and radiation treatment that may not have killed them.
During the study, David Parker along with his colleagues further concentrated their research on compound citrate, which is known to provide the prostate cells with the required energy.
The citrate level in the prostate varies considerably and depends on a zinc-sensitive enzyme. For men who are diagnosed with cancer, there is a considerable reduction in the levels of zinc that in turn brings about a reduction in the levels of citrate. Again, Leslie Costello from University of Maryland remarked that the technique aids in analyzing the effects of cancer at a very early stage of diagnosis. According to the findings of the researchers in the journal called Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, the new technique needs only a microlitre of fluid and this can be extracted with the help of a needle.
This technique will take some more time to be put into practice as the researchers are still going on with their regular studies and experiments. However, they hold a firm belief that this technique will definitely prove to be of immense benefit in the near future.