Katharina Buczek
After all, 70% of all human tumors have cells that contain an abnormal chromosomal number, and this finding could help pave the way for new therapeutic options.
Additionally, the scientists utilized single-cell analysis techniques to study the patient and their related family members. This technique involves the analysis of each blood cell’s genes separately and allows the team to understand what is occurring in each distinct cell as well as how these changes impact the patient.
This analysis ultimately revealed that the patient’s blood sample had hundreds of chromosomal-identical lymphocytes. In other words, they all came from one single cell that rapidly proliferated.
Lymphocytes are cells that defend the body by attacking distinct invaders. But sometimes, lymphocytes can proliferate too much, and their spread actually forms a tumor.
So, in witnessing this process in the patient, the researchers ultimately captured the earliest stage of cancer formation.
This second finding is also monumental, and the researchers suggest that similar single-cell analysis techniques could be used to identify cells with tumor-forming potential well before any clinical symptoms appear or biomarkers are observable within analytical tests.
To read the study’s completed findings in Science Advances, visit the link here.
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