Cancer Detection
Our cancer-detecting technology is unique
> We detect a cancerous process (common for all types of cancer)
> We offer a single, simple, non-invasive and harmless test for any cancer
> We can monitor malignant processes testing patients as often as necessary
> We can evaluate the aggressiveness of the disease
> We can achieve full automation thus ruling out human errors
> We do not compete with existing technologies offering new kind of medical imaging technology
> We send information to general practitioners thus increasing their role in preliminary testing for cancer
> We guarantee full confidentiality
This microscope image shows green laser light shining from a single (excited) biological cell
We analyze the spectral manifestation of cancerous processes. Coherent (laser-like) emission of excited disordered medium is a recently discovered physical effect termed "Random Lasing". Back in 2004 the physicists from the Utah University have observed the lasing effects while studying spectra of aggressively behaving and rapidly multiplying cancer-cells [Polson & Vardeny]. They suggested that the lasing phenomenon can serve as a spectral marker of cancer-cells. Our clinical research conducted in 2000 (4 years earlier) resulted in a conclusion that spectra of persons with cancer have specific characteristics as well. Hence, malignant processes in cells affect the spectrum of the entire body and the detection of cancer-specific spectra can take place without tissue extraction ( more...).
The cancer problem can be revolutionized through the introduction of new technologies and new principles of cancer mass-screening in order to detect high-risk individuals and early (asymptomatic) stages of cancer. Timely detection of malignant processes in large populations is critical for preventive medicine and also for reduction of cancer-associated deaths, since relatively early stages of cancer can be treated more efficiently than advanced malignant processes. Over 11 million people are diagnosed with cancer worldwide every year. By the year 2020, this number is expected to increase up to 16 million. According to the World Health Organization, at least one-third of all cancer cases are preventable. There are more than 100 different types of cancer and only several of them are nowadays detectable reliably, harmlessly and affordably. The challenge is to detect cancer as early as possible - when the potential for prevention is the highest.
Some cancers can be detected relatively early: direct or assisted visual observation is the most common form of examination. It is useful for identifying suspicious lesions on the skin, retina, lip, mouth, larynx, external genitalia and cervix. However, the great majority of "internal cancers" progresses silently and asymptomatically, so their early detection is merely an accidental finding. Potential risks must be considered against any potential benefit of screening for cancer. Although most organ-specific screening tests are noninvasive or minimally invasive, some involve risks of serious complications that may be immediate (e.g., perforation with colonoscopy) or delayed (e.g., potential carcinogenesis from radiation).
Each clinical test has its limits of sensitivity and specificity, some falling below 50% (In medical diagnostics, test sensitivity is the ability of a test to correctly identify those with the disease, whereas test specificity is the ability of the test to correctly identify those without the disease). According to medical reports, the sensitivity of prostate cancer detection by MRI is approximately 55% - 65%; overall sensitivity of mammography is approximately 79% but is lower in younger women and in those with dense breast tissue. PET imaging is based on the physiologic distribution of the tracer and, therefore, has poor spatial localization compared to conventional x-rays, CT, or MRI. The average sensitivity and specificity of PET across all oncology applications do not exceed 88% and in some cases drop below 40%.
Presently there are no single clinical tests other than BHT that can detect any cancerous process regardless of its type, stage and location in the body.
Considering that even the underdeveloped BHT-technology has demonstrated the accuracy up to 86% and that this affordable, harmless, non-invasive and any-cancer-detecting test is sensitive to early stages of cancers as well, our innovation would be of great help for clinicians. We hope to achieve higher sensitivity and specificity (over 90%) in the near future. The CID- system is portable and can be used anywhere. it can serve as an automated assistant for any general practitioner and also for any physician working in countries/regions with underdeveloped medical infrastructure, where large populations lack diagnostic services. We believe that thanks to unique possibilities of the CID-system and high benefit-to-risk ratio of this technology, it would become a method of choice for both – the mass-screening and early cancer detection purposes.
Potential applications of our innovation: cancer detection at any stage of the disease, cancer-monitoring, mass-screening and evaluation of the treatment efficiency.
New principle of cancer-diagnostics >>>
More on the cancer-detecting device "CID" >>>
Science behind the innovation >>>