Innovative technology in cancer diagnostics for improving cancer therapy

According to GLOBACON 2020 report, still there are 20 million people affected by cancer with 10 million deaths per year. The most common cancer includes breast, lung, colon, and prostate cancers, multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. However, innovations in molecular diagnostics and precision medicine have improved patient care and outcomes. Today, the integration of genomics, bioinformatics, digitization, and artificial intelligence facilitates the transition of cancer diagnostic to precision medicine-based personalized treatment for patients’ better survival without many side effects. Since the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, several PCR-based diagnostics are well introduced for the diagnosis and therapies of various cancers. Innovation in genomic and precision medicine becomes a part of cancer care programs all over the world. Several gene targets, signaling pathways and protein molecules involved in the causation and promotion of cancer development, are invented along with their specific targeted therapies. The major innovative technologies introduced are polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR, automated DNA sequencing, next-generation sequencing (NGS), fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH), flow cytometry, and bioinformatic tools, to get accurate diagnosis of cancer. Similarly, the introduction of novel CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology allows researchers to develop safe and effective CAR-T cell immunotherapy for solid and liquid tumors without many side effects, and is drug-resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Initial confirmation of cancer is mostly done by histopathology of tissue biopsy, which mainly determines the type and stage of cancer. However, a new concept has been introduced called liquid biopsy, which is a non-invasive process that helps in diagnosis and monitoring the treatment of cancer patients. Liquid biopsy contains various cell types, such as circulating tumor cells, (CTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), miRNA, exosomes, etc., giving important information about the stage and potencies of tumor metastasis. Besides this, scientists are now focusing on targeting tumor microenvironmental cell types responsible for tumor growth and metastasis. Positron emission tomography [PET] scan, is an effective diagnostic test that allows you to plan radiotherapy by setting up the coordinates of the tumor to reduce irradiation of healthy tissues. Now F-FDG PET/CT is used for various cancer screening, staging, and radiotherapy of various cancers. Nano-medicine is a new sensitive, and accurate innovative technology introduced recently for diagnosis and therapy of cancer by use of nanoparticles.

Coming to the market survey, the global oncology molecular diagnostics market size reached USD 3.7 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 8.4 billion by 2028, with a CAGR of 14.9 percent during 2023–2028. The growth of this market is driven by the rising prevalence of cancers, increased biomarker identification, expanded usage of kits and assays, instruments, and software, etc. Major players in providing these services include Thermo-Fisher Scientific, Agilent Technologies, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hoffmann-La Roche, Abbot, Qiagen, Illumina, Myriad Genetics, etc. The most important countries where all these innovative technologies are used for cancer diagnosis and therapies are North America, the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, Italy, France, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Israel, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Austria, and Australia.

The current scenario for cancer research is still responsible for millions of deaths worldwide, even though much progress has been achieved in cancer diagnosis and therapies. Oncological research is putting a lot of effort towards finding new and efficient diagnostics and therapeutics solutions to overcome these difficulties. Different technologies such as the use of liquid biopsies in monitoring metastatic cancer patients, the study of tumour microenvironmental cell types, nano-technology, exosomes research, etc are being currently under evaluation in clinical trials. Presently, nanomedicine is contributing a significant role in the development of biocompatible materials for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. So, it seems that soon there will be a significant improvement in cancer diagnostics and therapies that will cure cancer patients without side effects and drug resistance.