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| Learn about cancer and cancer testing |
Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.
Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start - for example, cancer that begins in the colon is called colon cancer; cancer that begins in basal cells of the skin is called basal cell carcinoma. |
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| Cancer Testing |
Some types of cancer can be found before they cause symptoms. Checking for cancer (or for conditions that may lead to cancer) in people who have no symptoms is called screening. Screening can help doctors find and treat some types of cancer early. Generally, cancer treatment is more effective when the disease is found early. However, not all types of cancer have screening tests and some tests are only for people with specific genetic risks.
Laboratory tests that use a sample of blood, urine, or other substance from the body can be used to identify possible changes in a person's health before symptoms appear. Regular testing and diagnosis is the best way to avoid Cancer, and ensure a healthy life. If a person waits too long before getting tested, he/she risks a much more prolonged disease with, very often, a poor prognosis and quality of life. |
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 What is PCR?
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a fast and inexpensive technique used to "amplify" - copy - small segments of DNA.
Significant amounts of a sample of DNA are necessary for molecular and genetic analyses, studies of isolated pieces of DNA are nearly impossible without PCR amplification.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a laboratory technique for "amplifying" a specific DNA sequence. PCR is extremely efficient and sensitive; it can make millions or billions of copies of any specific sequence of DNA, even when the sequence is in a complex mixture. |
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What is PCR used for?
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PCR is valuable in a number of newly emerging laboratory and clinical techniques, including detection of bacteria or viruses (particularly AIDS), and diagnosis of genetic disorders. |
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How does PCR work?
To amplify a segment of DNA using PCR,The sample is first heated so the DNA denatures, or separates into two pieces of single-stranded DNA. Next, an enzyme called "Taq polymerase" synthesizes - builds - two new strands of DNA, using the original strands as templates. This process results in the duplication of the original DNA, with each of the new molecules containing one old and one new strand of DNA. Then each of these strands can be used to create two new copies, and so on, and so on. The cycle of denaturing and synthesizing new DNA is repeated as many as 30 or 40 times, leading to more than one billion exact copies of the original DNA segment.
The entire cycling process of PCR is automated and can be completed in just a few hours. It is directed by a machine called a thermocycler, which is programmed to alter the temperature of the reaction every few minutes to allow DNA denaturing and synthesis. |
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What is Immunohistochemistry?
| Immunohistochemistry is a method of analyzing and identifying cell types based on the binding of antibodies to specific components of the cell. It is sometimes referred to as immunocytochemistry. |
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What is IHC used for?
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Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is used to diagnose the type of cancer and to help determine the patient's prognosis. In cases such as metastases or carcinoma of unknown primary origin, where it may be difficult to determine the type of cell from which the tumor originated, immunohistochemistry can identify cells by the characteristic markers on the cell surface. IHC can also help distinguish between benign and malignant tumors. |
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How does IHC works?
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IHC works on the principle of antibodies binding specifically to antigens in biological tissues.. Immunohistochemical staining is widely used in the diagnosis of abnormal cells such as those found in cancerous tumors. |
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What is Karyotyping?
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Karyotyping is one of the many techniques that help study the human genes for several genetic diseases. Karyotyping comes from the word karyotype. Karyotype is a complete profile of an individual's chromosomal set up. Any changes in the arrangement of a karyotype helps doctors study possible genetic disorders. In simpler terms, karyotyping is a close study of chromosomes. |
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What does a Karyotype Show?
A karyotype shows the details of the chromosomes. Karyotyping identifies and helps determine the sex of an unborn child. When doctors study a human karyotype they look for some significant features. Here are a few important ones.
• Check if the 46 chromosomes are present
• Check the presence of the two identical chromosomes and 2 sex chromosomes
• Check if there are any missing or rearranged chromosomes |
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What makes blood karyotyping helpful?
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Blood Karyotyping is a very helpful method of studying chromosomes and predicting genetic disorder. It counts the number of chromosomes and looks for any structural changes in chromosomes. |
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What is Flow Cytometry?
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Flow cytometry is the measurement (-metry) of cellular (cyto-) properties as they are moving in a fluid stream (flow), past a stationary set of detectors. It allow cells of different subtypes to be sorted and collected for further analysis. It is capable of rapid, quantitative, multi-parameter analysis of heterogeneous cell populations on a cell-by-cell basis (single cell analysis). |
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How does it work?
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Performing flow cytometry experiments generally involve three distinct, interdependent phases. First is the pre-flow cytometry phase, which involves staining of cells with fluorescent reagents. Second is the flow cytometry phase, which involves processing the stained cells using flow cytometry instrumentation and collecting data (acquiring) for one or more measurements (which are called parameters) made on each individual cell. Finally, the analysis phase involves analysing the collected data. These three phases may all be performed by a single individual during the course of one. |
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What is Flow Used for:
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Flow cytometry is routinely used in the diagnosis of health disorders, especially blood cancers, but has many other applications in both research and clinical practice. The technology has applications in a number of fields, including molecular biology, pathology, immunology, plant biology and marine biology. |
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What is FISH?
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Blood Karyotyping is a very helpful method of studying chromosomes and predicting genetic disorder. It counts the number of chromosomes and looks for any structural changes in chromosomes. |
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How does it work?
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In FISH, cells are arrested in the metaphase stage of mitosis and placed on a slide where they burst open, spreading chromosomes over the surface. A fluorescent-labeled DNA probe of specific interest is placed on the slide and incubated long enough for hybridization to occur. The slide is then viewed under a fluorescence microscope that focuses ultraviolet light on the chromosomes. Hybridized regions of the chromosome fluoresce. |
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What is FISH used for
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FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) is a cytogenetic technique used to detect and localize the presence or absence of specific DNA sequences on chromosomes .FISH is often used for finding specific features in DNA for use in genetic counseling, medicine, and species identification. |
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 Sequencing
The term DNA sequencing refers to sequencing methods for determining the order of the nucleotide bases—adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine—in a molecule of DNA.
Knowledge of DNA sequences has become indispensable for basic biological research, other research branches utilizing DNA sequencing, and in numerous applied fields such as diagnostic, biotechnology, forensic biology and biological systematics. The advent of DNA sequencing has significantly accelerated biological research and discovery. The rapid speed of sequencing attained with modern DNA sequencing technology has been instrumental in the sequencing of the human genome, in the Human Genome Project. Related projects, often by scientific collaboration across continents, have generated the complete DNA sequences of many animal, plant, and microbial genomes. |
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Overview of Genetic Testing
The term "genetic testing" covers an array of techniques including analysis of human DNA, RNA or protein. In the clinical setting, genetic tests can be performed to confirm a suspected diagnosis, to predict the possibility of future illness, to detect the presence of a carrier state in unaffected individuals (whose children may be at risk), and to predict response to therapy.
Many tests can now determine whether a person carries a particular disease-associated allele. |
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