Detecting cancer in a drop of blood  

清华发现全新肿瘤标志物 只要一滴血就可测癌症

记者17日从清华大学获悉，该校生命学院罗永章教授研究组在国际上首次发现Hsp90α(热休克蛋白90α)为一个全新的肿瘤标志物。患者只需取一滴血液，通过试剂盒检测，即可用于病情监测和治疗效果的评价，为指导肿瘤个体化治疗提供辅助依据。[查看全文]

Beijing (CNS) -- A reagent test kit invented at Tsinghua University can diagnose multiple kinds of cancer by analyzing a drop of human blood.

Led by Professor Luo Yongzhang, the research team at Tsinghua announced that they've invented a device that can detect the amount of heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) in human blood.

Cancer patients have a higher level of Hsp90 than the general population, according to Luo.

Luo's team had initially reported on Hsp90's function in tumor malignancy in 2009's "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America."

The Beijing Youth Daily cited Professor Luo as saying that the kit can only be used for preliminary examinations at this time, not for final diagnoses.

However, the kit is significant for cancer patients, since an expensive CT scan would not be necessary to show that treatment is working, or vice versa.

The kit has been certified to enter the Chinese and European markets.

Prior to the kit, there were 31 tumor markers, all of which were discovered and identified by scientists in other countries.