Liquid Biopsies
Inaccuracy characterized cancer treatment and detection for years . However , advances in DNA sequencing are setting the stage for a revolution in the field of cancer detection and treatment . Medical teams all by JESUS
GONZALEZ CRUZ
across the globe are working towards developing cheap and universal cancer detection systems that will allow proper and effective cancer treatment for the first time ever .
Dr . Nancy Cappello did everything the medical field told her to do in order to avoid and detect cancer . She closely watched her diet , she examined herself every month , exercised everyday , and had yearly mammograms . In November of 2003 she had a mammogram , and it claimed that everything was “ normal .” Then , in January of the next year , her doctor became concerned over something he felt during her annual exam , and sent her to have additional . On February 3 , 2004 , Capello found out that the additional tests had found that she had cancer . The mammogram she had done a mere 16 weeks earlier had failed to detect the 2.5 cm tumor that had spread to 13 of her lymph nodes , which are essential parts of of the immune system . Evidently , the current state of cancer detection falls far from ideal . That reality , however , is quickly giving way to one with more effective cancer treatment thanks to the development and continual improvement of liquid biopsies .
The state of cancer treatment has negatively affected the world as a whole . In the United States alone , experts estimated that the country would see the diagnosis of 1,685,210 new cancer cases and 595,690 cancer deaths in 2016 . However , as with most things , the negative effects hit China particularly hard thanks to the the country ’ s immense scale . The massive con-
6 | THE BELL NUCLEUS · Jan 2016