In Vitebsk, it will be possible to donate blood for testing for 60 types of cancer starting from early June, with other regions to join later. This was announced by Sergey Krasny, Deputy Director for Scientific Work at the N.N. Alexandrov National Research Centre for Oncology and Medical Radiology.
"The study in the Vitebsk region will commence in the first days of June. Minsk and the Minsk region will be connected during June and until early July. Subsequently, the other regions will follow sequentially," said Sergey Krasny.
According to him, this is a large Belarusian-German project for technology transfer. The production of all reagents has already been organised in Belarus. The PanTum Detect test allows for the suspicion of over 60 types of malignant tumours and replaces approximately 200 diagnostic tests. This test enables the detection of the disease at various stages, including stage zero (precancerous conditions). It also offers the possibility of detecting pathologies for which effective early screening methods are currently unavailable.
The principle of the PanTum Detect analysis is based on the study of macrophages. "A procedure such as flow cytometry is performed. Immune system cells – macrophages – are isolated, in which remnants of tumour cells are detected. These are immune system cells that destroy tumours developing in the body. If the analysis is negative, it indicates that there is no tumour in the body and further examination is not required. If the analysis is positive, further examination is necessary to detect the tumour," noted Sergey Krasny.
He emphasised that the sensitivity and specificity of this analysis approach 100%, meaning the test is highly accurate.
Blood collection points for the study will be published on the website of the Ministry of Health in June. Initially, the list of laboratories will be quite limited, but the network will gradually expand. Blood collection for this test will be carried out by specific certified laboratories. Ultimately, there will be over 120 such laboratories across the republic.
As Sergey Krasny explained, staff training is required. The reason is that blood collection must be very gentle to avoid damaging the macrophages, which are highly sensitive to various influences.
Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by