Wednesday 3 September 2008

Mathematical Model Allows Estimation Of Minimal Detectable Tumor Sizes


A novel method of modeling could allow scientists to blind for cancer
at an early stage using a blood biomarker, according to an article
released on August 19, 2008 in the open-access journal PLoS
Medicine.


By early screening for cancer, at that place is enormous potential for an
increased quality of life in many types of cancers. Many cancers, if
caught early enough, can be curable by conventional methods if they are
detected at an early level. Presently, these technologies have moved
towards better imaging or towards better detection of specific
chemicals in the blood, known as biomarkers. Further confirmation is
usually made subsequently by a more invasive biopsy procedure.


Sanjiv Gambhir of Stanford University Medical Center and colleagues set
out to settle what the lowest detectable levels ar for specific
biomarkers in determining tumor presence. To do this they determined
various typical parameters of a electric potential cancer patient role, including the
size and density of a neoplasm, approximate size of a patient, and the
sensitiveness and specificity of sensing techniques. They modeled the
piece as a single compartment.


They determined that the smallest tumors that might be detected through
this method acting as small as several hundred three-dimensional millimeters merely perhaps
as large as one million cubic millimeters. In comparing to the sizes
detected using the same biomarkers clinically, these are similar,
indicating that the role model could describe the system in a relevant
fashion.

Cancer Screening: A Mathematical Model Relating Secreted Blood
Biomarker Levels to Tumor Sizes


Amelie M. Lutz, Juergen K. Willmann, Frank V. Cochran, Pritha Ray,
Sanjiv S. Gambhir
PLoS Med 5(8): e170.

doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050170
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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney


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