Toshiba “blood test for cancer” technology with an accuracy of 99%

Toshiba “blood test for cancer” technology with an accuracy of 99%.  As early as 2019, there was news that Toshiba of Japan had developed a cancer screening device. “Only a drop of blood, two hours, 20,000 Japanese Yen, 13 kinds of early cancers can be screened, and the accuracy has reached an astonishing 99%.”

Recently, there is the latest news that Toshiba will launch an empirical test for the early diagnosis of 13 types of cancer with a drop of blood. Joint research will be carried out with the medical corporation Midtown Clinic and others, and 1,000 samples will be tested first. It is reported that this technology shortens the detection time by locking the small RNA molecules to be detected.

Targets include the earliest “stage 0” cancer, which is expected to improve the survival rate of patients through early detection.

Friends who have read medical science or understand common medical knowledge may know that the most critical factor that affects the ultimate effect of the treatment of malignant tumors (including cancer) clinically is early detection. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the better the treatment effect. If it is already in the late stage when it is discovered, the treatment methods are lackluster and the treatment effect is very unsatisfactory.

Therefore, the early diagnosis of cancer is very important. For early diagnosis, regular physical examination is the key-to find cancer before symptoms appear.

The current routine cancer physical examination items include blood tests, imaging examinations, genetic screening, etc. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and none of them can be very satisfactory. For example, imaging examinations, X-rays, B-ultrasound, CT, endoscopy, etc., some examinations are not sufficiently sensitive and specific, expensive, and often cause pain. Genetic screening has certain significance for special populations, but it is of little significance for the general public, because the accuracy and specificity are far from enough. As for blood tests, a lot of blood has to be drawn. According to the recommended guidelines of the WHO or the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is not a routine recommendation for early cancer screening, because the accuracy and accuracy are still insufficient, and false positives and false negatives appear. The probability is too high.

Therefore, it is particularly urgent to find a cancer screening method that is more accurate, more accurate, if it can save time and effort, and is cheaper and faster.

In December 2019, the Japanese company Toshiba announced that it had developed a “blood-drop detection of cancer” technology based on the MicroRNA medical research results of Tokyo Medical University and the National Cancer Research Center. It is understood that researchers can detect 13 types of breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, and colorectal cancer at an extremely early stage by examining the types and concentrations of molecules called “microribonucleic acid” (miRNA) secreted in the blood. cancer. Based on this, Toshiba has developed a chip and a small instrument that can detect ribonucleic acid within 2 hours, and its price is controlled at about 200 US dollar.

But for this technology we still need to be calm. First of all, this is a product developed by a commercial company, so you can’t see papers with specific data published in academic journals. It is only based on a few words in the news, and it is impossible to make a rigorous judgment. Does the instrument have such a surprisingly high accuracy rate as the news said, I dare not believe it credulously before seeing peer-reviewed academic papers. At the beginning of his debut in California, Theranos also claimed that a drop of blood can be used to detect and diagnose various diseases. Only after reporters’ investigations broke out fraud and exaggeration, it became a global sensation.

Second, is there any possibility of false positives? Because this MicroRNA can only provide a guiding preliminary screening opinion, if there is a false positive, a series of follow-up inspections will eventually bring more harm than good, and it is not impossible.

Third, clinical trials are planned to start this year, so it will take a relatively long time for the government to approve and enter the market for ordinary people.

Historical event review “Female version of Jobs” and her “leeks”

In 2003, Theranos was founded in California by its CEO and co-founder Elizabeth Holmes. As a blood testing company, Theranos uses the slogan “Farewell to terrible needles and blood sampling test tubes” and claims that it has mastered microfluidic technology and can provide a faster and cheaper painless blood test: just prick your finger to get a few drops of blood. As many as 240 medical examinations performed in professional medical laboratories are completed, ranging from cholesterol to cancer can be detected, and laboratory results can be obtained immediately, and the minimum cost is only 2.99 US dollars.

The founder of Theranos is called Elizabeth, who dropped out of college after two years at Stanford and founded the company. She wanted to invent a device that would “test all diseases with a drop of blood”. The patient drops a drop of blood like a blood glucose meter, and the instrument can wirelessly send the patient’s data to the doctor so that the doctor can monitor the condition and adjust the dosage of the medicine at any time. If successful, it will be a disruptive invention that will change the world, not to mention a market value of tens or tens of billions of dollars.

A girl who has been full of desires for money since she was a child has finally grown into a beautiful, rich, famous, powerful and attractive idol that many people dream of under the cultivation of various factors. Elizabeth Holmes (Elizabeth Holmes) founded a company with a micro blood test program at the age of 19 and became the darling of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. He was even hailed as the “female version of Jobs” and “the youngest female billionaire in the world”. The Weekly’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in 2015, appeared on the covers of several well-known magazines.

The convincing eloquence of magic, strong psychological resistance and adaptability, and modern people’s desire for high-end medical examination technology make this female liar who gave up principles and bottom lines a complete “legend”.

Elizabeth’s instrument has never been able to accurately measure the patient’s data. In order to “success”, she continued to fabricate lies to investment banks, employees, and probably herself. She is smart, eloquent, young and promising, and has won a large number of followers, including former U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger and Schultz. She is sought after by the media as a Jobs in the medical field, and she has no success for a while.

Is the well-being of patients important, or is it more important to exaggerate the scope of technology to capture their own benefits or star companies to build momentum for financing? It is precisely because the medical and health industry needs strict supervision of institutional mechanisms, and new diagnostic technologies need to undergo rigorous testing, the glitz of blood dripping into gold is destined to eventually become a simple entrepreneurial scam.

Compared with Theranos, which is endorsed by the founder’s background, Toshiba not only has a wealth of experience in the industry, but also has a reputation for good user experience. I believe that its research on the “blood-dropping cancer” technology will also be based on Proceed very cautiously. If the relevant instruments can be successfully developed and put into commercial use, Toshiba will make a major contribution to the global medical industry.

About Toshiba:

Toshiba Corporation is Japan’s most important electromechanical manufacturing company. It has four major businesses that have been leading the world. The first is medical equipment manufacturing, especially PET-CT and heavy ion radiotherapy cancer treatment systems are the world’s leading. The second piece of business is televisions and white goods. The third business is the manufacture of nuclear power plant equipment such as nuclear reactors. The fourth business is semiconductor equipment and parts manufacturing.

However, in recent years, Toshiba’s life has not been easy. The first is the white goods manufacturing industry. In the context of the rise of China and South Korea, the Japanese white goods industry has declined as a whole, and Toshiba has also chosen to abandon it. The biggest blow to Toshiba is the fatal problem in the nuclear power industry. The first is the nuclear leak at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant caused by the Great Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011. This leak directly put Japan’s entire nuclear power industry in a state of destruction. Of the 56 nuclear reactors in the country, only two are allowed to operate for power generation.

The new nuclear power plant construction plan has become a permanent blank. Secondly, Westinghouse Electric Company, which was acquired by Toshiba, also suffered a huge deficit due to changes in the US nuclear power development plan. Third, countries in the world basically stopped the construction of new nuclear power plants after the Fukushima nuclear accident occurred, and nuclear power worldwide has entered an ice age. The nuclear power business was originally Toshiba’s highly profitable industry.

As a result, not only did the business stagnate, but also suffered huge losses, the stock plummeted, and Toshiba was on the verge of bankruptcy. Westinghouse’s huge asset impairment has become the last straw that crushes Toshiba. The scale of its goodwill impairment that year is estimated to be as high as 712.5 billion yen (6.1 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 12.57% of its annual operating income, directly leading to Toshiba’s 2016 capital The amount of insolvency reached 552.9 billion yen. At the same time, Toshiba has been included on the delisting watch list after the financial fraud scandal broke out in 2015.

As a result, it sold the two most profitable businesses of the two companies, one of which was the manufacturing business of medical diagnostic equipment such as CT, and sold it to Canon. Another flash memory department, the core of the semiconductor business, was acquired by the “Japan-US-Korea Consortium” led by Bain Capital of the United States at a price of 2 trillion yen. The white goods business was sold to China’s Midea.

(source:internet, reference only)

Disclaimer of medicaltrend.org