BY EU STUDIO
Updated Monday, November 7, 2022-12:34
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In their own way, our internal organs already speak to us.
Medical professionals have at their disposal innovative technology to be able to listen to our body and thus offer us the best possible treatment for any disease we may suffer from.
One of these techniques is molecular diagnosis, which we can define as the voice of our lungs.
The only way to achieve a complete and precise diagnosis in lung cancer is by having a molecular analysis of the tumor, and not just anatomopathological or clinical.
This study will allow the specialist to understand the genetic composition of cancer and achieve more personalized and targeted treatments.
Otherwise, reaching this level of knowledge is impossible.
Lung cancer is a silent disease, which often takes time to show its face.
It is therefore necessary to work on early detection.
Knowing what molecular diagnosis consists of is key in the fight against lung cancer
Given the importance of molecular diagnosis to better understand and treat lung cancer, one of the most diagnosed in Spain according to the report on cancer figures in Spain prepared by the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology in 2021, the Spanish Association of Affected for Lung Cancer (AEACaP) and the Ricky RUbio Foundation have launched the #Simipulmonhablara campaign, a project to raise awareness of the importance of this type of diagnosis.
This campaign also has the collaboration of Janssen, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Takeda, Medtronic, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly, Amgen and Boehringer Ingelheim laboratories.
The campaign emphasizes a truth that everyone should keep in mind: there is no accurate diagnosis without molecular analysis of the tumor.
Bernard Gaspar, president of AEACaP, reflects on this: "A few years ago, personalized medicine in lung cancer seemed almost utopian. However, science has made it possible to advance in the knowledge of the molecular bases of lung cancer, as has happened in few tumors, and this is making it possible to specify their diagnosis with techniques such as liquid biopsy, immunohistochemistry or DNA sequencing, which go far beyond the study of the anatomical sample".
For his part, Dr. Santiago Viteri, medical director of the UOMi Cancer Center in Barcelona, bluntly states that by detecting what type of failure has occurred in a specific cancer, the possibilities of selecting a treatment specifically aimed at counteracting said cancer are maximized. failed.
"Molecular diagnostic techniques, such as liquid biopsy, immunohistochemistry or genomic sequencing are used for that, to detect the specific faults of a cancer cell and therefore they help us to make a molecular diagnosis of cancer and help us to select the best treatment."
Without this type of analysis, specialists are unable to know what specific type of lung cancer a patient has.
Therefore, choosing an appropriate treatment is complicated.
For this reason, Viteri affirms that having access to a molecular diagnosis can have a very relevant impact on a patient, not only in relation to overall survival, but also in terms of quality of life."
Spain and molecular diagnosis: there is still a long way to go
What situation is Spain in with respect to molecular diagnosis?
Gaspar points out that there is still no equal access to these techniques: it depends a lot on where the patient lives and even, within the same community, on the hospital that treats him.
"It is urgent to end this inequity of opportunity for people, since an accurate diagnosis leads to the best treatment available for each patient."
And it is that the more the use of molecular diagnosis is normalized to learn more about lung cancer, the more possibilities there will be to normalize access to precision medicine in our country.
Other institutions, including ASEICA or SEOM, have already demanded a clear response from the relevant authorities for the implementation of this personalized medicine throughout Spain.
Ricky Rubio, NBA basketball player and founder of the association that bears his name, is aware that information is power.
And more if we talk about a disease like cancer.
"There is terminology that is widespread among the population, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy. However, very little is known about molecular diagnostic techniques, such as liquid biopsy. We have to start talking about it, normalize the vocabulary that speaks of advances in cancer among people on the street.Furthermore, we must not lose sight of the fact that lung cancer concerns us all, directly or indirectly, since it is one of the most frequent tumors in Spain, of which More than 30,000 new cases are diagnosed each year."
Thanks to the #Simipulmonhablara campaign we will be able to familiarize ourselves with a type of diagnosis that can save the lives of thousands of people every year.
The greater the precision and information available to the doctor about the type of lung cancer that the patient suffers from, the greater will be not only her life expectancy, but also that she will live it with much better quality than until now.
The goal is to treat who needs to be treated, with what can really work.
And this is only achieved by molecular diagnosis.
Made by UE Studio
This text has been developed by UE Studio, a creative branded content and content marketing firm from Unidad Editorial, for AEACAP.
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