The End of the Beginning

My doctor orders the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test as part of the blood work during the annual physical. PSA-screening isn't foolproof, though, and he couples it with the digital-rectal exam (advice: don't banter with the doctor while he's performing the DRE), to determine whether further tests are needed. Why do men go through this unpleasantness? "Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer."

Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins wondered why there wasn't a blood test to screen for all cancer, not just that of the prostate. Such a test might have detected skin cancer early enough to save his brother. Tumor DNA leaves distinguishing markers, and Dr. Vogelstein researched how to sift for those markers, even in the extremely minute quantities of early-stage cancer.

For the first time, Hopkins researchers say, they are within reach of a general screening tool that could be used to scan broadly—perhaps at an annual physical—for molecular traces of cancer in people with no symptoms.

To be sure, significant problems need to be solved:

While the test may detect the presence of cancer DNA in the body, physicians might not know where the tumor is, how dangerous it is, or even whether it is worth treating.

The War on Cancer has lasted 43 years so far, and finally it's realistic to believe that it can be won during our children's lifetime, if not our own.