HrC: a simple blood test that can diagnose cancer BEFORE you get it
By Nitish Bhamidipati
While much medical research is focused on cancer treatment, with hundreds of new publications on cancer mechanisms and medicines coming every week and month, many times the best way to beat cancer is to find it early through cancer screenings. The reason that finding cancer in early stages is so powerful is because cancer in general becomes exponentially more difficult to treat the longer it goes undetected, due to the ability of cancer cells to mutate in resistance to immune cells and eventually spread from local tissues to other parts of the body, known as metastasis. Cancers that are in late-stage and have metastasized can become untreatable, known as terminal cancers. Another reason that early cancer detection is so powerful is because treatment has made it evidently clear that the later stage cancer is in, the more aggressive the treatment. Cancer treatment is known to have damaging side effects so the less aggressive treatment necessary, the better the outcome and quality of life for patients becomes.
Published data analysis studies have shown that ~50% of cancers are diagnosed at an advanced-stage where treatment becomes more aggressive and has worsening side-effects. This indicates a dire need for improvements in screening technology to detect the location and progression of cancer within the body. The HrC test may be the answer.
Recently the HrC test has been picking up more and more coverage within India for its ability to provide pinpoint accurate data predicting cancer up to a year before it appears at low monetary cost (under ₹10,000 ≈ $121.19) to consumers as well as low physical cost, requiring only 10mL blood samples. Let’s explore what the HrC test is, how it works, and what its current performance in clinical trials has shown.
Developed by Epigeneres, a biotechnology company in India, The HrC test, or Himanshu Roy cancer test, is a blood test that screens for cancer. Up until now, we have developed many tests for cancer detection, but the unique predicting power of the HrC blood test (at least from what the preliminary clinical studies show) seems to set this test apart from previous ones. Now, to explain how this test works, it’s important to first understand what stem cells are. Stem cells are the cells that differentiate to create all the different types of cells in organs and tissues that we have in our body. During embryonic development, embryonic stem cells, known as the quintessential stem cells because they ultimately divide into every different cell type our body currently has, differentiate to form our body’s organs. As our body continues to develop, stem cells remain for further development. If skin is ruptured for example, the healing process involves stem cells regenerating lost skin in some magnitude.
A unique property of stem cells is their ability to divide much more rapidly compared to normal cells. You can see how this may relate to cancer cells. Cancer cells also divide at rates faster than normal cells. The theory that led to testing and the creation of this blood test was whether or not cancer stem cells may exist, and how this may be the origin of cancer cell proliferation forming tumors after normal cells have mutated. While most blood tests for cancer currently look for physical cancer cells within blood, similar to how traditional chemotherapy works, just targeting cells that divide more rapidly than normal cells, the HrC test targets a specific biomarker (chemical compounds found on the surface of cells that help identify the cell type and functions) that through extensive testing researchers have found could be specific to cancer stem cells, thus predicting future cancer development. This biomarker is known as OCT4.
OCT4, also known as Octamer Transcription Factor 4, is a biomarker present on cancer stem cells which is a major regulator of the cancer stem cells’ cell division. Although it also exists on normal stem cells, studies have found strong correlations between cancer development, metastasis, and levels of OCT4. In a study of 500 non-cancer and 500 cancer patients, researchers used OCT4 expression on Cancer stem cells to predict the stage of cancer or non-cancer within patients. The study was tested on 25 different diverse cancer types.
OCT4’s predictions were 100% accurate. For each of the 500 cancer patients, OCT4 correctly predicted stage I through IV cancers. For each of the 500 non-cancer patients, none of the patients were predicted by OCT4 to have stage I through IV cancers.
With such promising results in clinical trials, it’s already being expanded to the general public. While this test is only available in India, its recent coverage might grow the test to places like the United States. It’s also important to keep in mind that one very successful study does not mean total success, and more clinical studies are necessary to truly confirm the abilities of the HrC test. These are hopeful signs however. There is much room for this test to expand. For example, in this preliminary study only 25 cancers have been studied but there are thousands of different cancer subtypes whose application with this test could provide invaluable information for clinical care. Just imagine if doctors had access to this blood test which could predict cancer development with pinpoint accuracy in a variety of cancers and subtypes, and on top of that make it low cost to patients so it’s accessible to all. Let’s remain inspired to improve and innovate medical technology for a brighter future.
Citations:
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay9040
- www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/octamer-transcription-factor-4
- www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/epigeneres-biotech-operationalise-the-hrc-test-an-early-warning-system-that-picks-up-cancer-signals/article66738653.ece
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-014-0069-6
- https://thehrctest.co.uk/
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-021-10167-1