According to WHO, cancer was responsible for an estimated 10 million deaths in 2020. Cancer symptoms usually present at latestage of the disease resulting in late diagnosis and potentially greater morbidity. Detecting cancer early can effectively reduce the mortality associated with cancer. Addressing delays in cancer diagnosis is therefore critical. Many immunoassay-based cancer biomarkers are glycoproteins (e.g. CA125, CEA, CA19-9, AFP) which are primarily used for monitoring disease progression and sometimes as prognostic indicators. This limitation is because they are also measured in healthy individuals and are frequently found elevated in benign conditions of the disease. However, their potential for diagnosis of early stage, pre-symptomatic cancers has not been realized.
Det här är ett utplock av en intressant artikel från KBN – Nr. 1 – vol. 35 – 2023.