According to the website of the National Cancer Institute (INCA), prostate cancer in Brazil is the second most common among men , second only to non-melanoma skin cancer. Also according to the institute’s website, if we consider absolute values and both sexes, prostate cancer is the second most common type.
Unfortunately, the disease has resulted in a high number of deaths in recent years. In 2020, for example, the estimate of new cases was, according to INCA, 65,840 and the number of deaths, in 2018, was 15,576. In short, one of the main reasons the numbers are so high is the late diagnosis of the disease. Unfortunately, there is still a certain blockage and a strong prejudice among some men about prevention.
The good news is that, according to a publication by Reasons to Believe, this whole sad scenario could change soon.
News
It seems that men will no longer have to feed the prejudice that exists around the preventive exam for prostate cancer, as a group of Korean scientists have just created a test that, in addition to using Artificial Intelligence, has an ultra-sensitive biosensor, which, together, are able to identify the disease in just 20 minutes. And the most amazing thing is that the test is done using urine and, amazingly, it has an accuracy rate of 99%.
As reported by the publication on the Reasons to Believe website, the test was designed by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. The research behind the development of the new exam was led by the institute’s chief scientist, Kwan Hyi Lee.
Those who carry out the exam can discover whether or not they have developed prostate cancer due to the presence of the biosensor, which is installed in a strip, similar to those used in pregnancy exams. As soon as the urine comes into contact with the biosensor, the Artificial Intelligence present in the exam uses an algorithm to determine the final result. The analysis, therefore, is done in two steps.
According to Lee, “this test will avoid a series of procedures, often invasive, that the patient must undergo to diagnose cancer.” Due to the high precision that the exam offers, patients will no longer need, for example, to perform biopsies. Furthermore, it is also believed that medical costs should be greatly reduced.
As it is new, the exam must still go through some new assessment phases.
Prostate cancer
According to experts, prostate cancer evolves silently. Many of the patients who are diagnosed with the disease have no symptoms. Those that usually show signs are mostly simple, such as difficulty urinating or needing to urinate more often during the day or night.
In its advanced stage, the disease, as experts explain, can cause pain in the region, generalized infection or kidney failure. With or without symptoms, the best way to fight prostate cancer is early detection of the disease. In short, the most successful strategy against the disease is to find the tumor at an early stage. In these cases, the chance of eliminating the cancer is much greater.
As most of us know, detection is basically done through clinical, laboratory or radiological tests. In people with signs or symptoms, – which generally belong to groups with a greater chance of having the disease – specialists resort to the use of periodic exams, such as digital rectal examination and blood tests, essential to assess the Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) dosage.
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