Alexis
Petnuch
Ferguson,
William. "RNA Fragments May Yield Rapid, Accurate Cancer Diagnosis:
Scientific American." RNA Fragments May Yield Rapid, Accurate Cancer
Diagnosis: Scientific American. Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 02
Feb. 2013.
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=rna-fragments-may-yield-rapid>.
The
article “RNA Fragments May Yield Rapid, Accurate Cancer Diagnosis,” was a look
into the near future of using parts of RNA to detect some forms of cancer.
Usually, to detect a cancerous tumor, a doctor would perform a biopsy on the
suspected tumor. While this proves successful in detection, it can also be
deadly for the patient. New studies are showing that strands of genetic
information inside microvesicles called exosomes, may help to diagnose some
forms of cancer, without performing a biopsy. This is because, within an
exosome, there is genetic information that can be tested to determine what the
tumor is made up of and the progression of this tumor. Researchers remove the
genetic information from the exosome and are able to determine the cancer
mutation. This new form of diagnosis will be revolutionary in detecting cancer
in early stages, noninvasively. MRI’s are sometimes used in detecting tumors,
but they are only able to detect tumors made up of about 100,000 cells. They
may also show false positives; dying tumor cells that have been killed by
treatment and have not yet been eliminated by the body. Because of this, MRI’s aren’t
entirely accurate; exosomes could potentially be a more useful way of detecting
cancerous tumors.
By studying the genetic information from
an exosome, one would give a clear, accurate, response as to whether or not
there is a cancerous tumor in a patient. As of right now, the studying of the
exosomes has been able to detect cancers such as glioma and prostate cancer.
While there is a way to potentially detect prostate cancer by doing a PSA test;
measuring levels of prostate-specific antigen in the body, it is not always
100% accurate. Increased levels of PSA in the body may be signs of prostate
cancer, but they can also be signs of other issues. Researchers at Exosome
developed a diagnostic kit for prostate cancer with about 75% accuracy. They
are hoping that by the end of the year, the first diagnostic kit may be
available for actual use.
I thought the article was written
well and was informative. It explained a lot about the exosome use in detecting
forms of cancer not previously determined by anything other than a biopsy. There
were many references to studies and experiments being taken to prove that
exosome use is accurate and I think that if they can get the FDA to approve of
the diagnostic kit, forms of cancer will be detected a lot sooner and many
lives can potentially be saved.
In her review, Alexis successfully used advanced vocabulary, remained concise but informative, and chose a topic that supplements what we are learning. Terms such as “biopsy” and “exosome” were appropriately used in the review and enhanced its quality by not only educating us, the readers, in the topic of RNA as a diagnostic tool, but in improving our vocabularies as well. The review itself was concise, but it included all of the important facts and statistics that were essential to proving the point of the article. Alexis not only included details about RNA diagnosis, but also about why it is more effective than usage of MRIs or biopsies, employing numbers, such as the fact that “MRIS … are only able to detect tumors made up of 100,000 cells,” to juxtapose the different methods. Finally, the topic itself was very well-chosen: RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is a topic that we are currently studying in class, as part of a unit on genomics and reactions that involve DNA. The fact that RNA is not only used in the making of amino acids, but can also be used to diagnose patients, is very interesting. Our background knowledge on the topic makes it easier to understand.
ReplyDeleteThe review could have been made better stylistically if it flowed and technically if it had included more details. Although her use of vocabulary was splendid, grammatical errors were present in several places and in general, the writing style was somewhat choppy. Also, while it is a summary, I feel it would have been effective had Alexis mentioned the body fluids (spinal fluid, urine, and blood) in which exosomes can be found. Including this detail would not have sacrificed conciseness for length, but instead would have improved the overall quality of the review.
One fact that impressed me was that RNA diagnosis is relatively simple to employ, in comparison to biopsies or other tests. Also, it surprised me that, though knowledge of exosomes existed, no one tried to use it as a diagnostic tool for several years. I would have thought that, since it was known that exosomes preserved their parent cells’ genetic information, further studies starting in 2008 (when this was discovered) would have been conducted, rather than now, five years later.
AP Biology Petey DeJoy
ReplyDeleteComment Review 2/5/13
Nicolette did a great job with her review of “RNA Fragments May Yield Accurate Cancer Diagnosis”. A few aspects of the review were particularly well presented. First, she did a great job with identifying the way that we currently use to diagnose cancer: through the use of biopsy. This provides a platform for the rest of the review. Next, she did an excellent job of identifying where we are going in terms of diagnoses: using RNA fragments to diagnose tumors instead of using biopsy. Third, she presented the pros and cons of the previously used and altered methods, stating that biopsy can often kill, while the new method would be completely harmless. There were some things, however, that could have been better done. She identifies that these new ways are not always efficient, and I would like to know more about that. Second, I think she could have done better with the critique of the article. From this review, I learned that there are new, less harmful ways of detecting cancer on the horizon of the future.