El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in late-stage cancer diagnoses, with restrictions preventing or discouraging many from getting screened early. But a new screening technology developed by a Canadian company could make it easier to detect cancers earlier.
StageZero Life Sciences is a Richmond Hill, Ont.-based health care company that has developed a way to simultaneously screen for a wide variety of cancers using a single blood sample. Some of the cancers that StageZero can detect include breast, cervical, endometrial, prostate, liver, stomach, bladder and colorectal.
"We're adding a whole series of additional ones. And as we continue to build out, we'll continue to add to them," StageZero Chairman and CEO James Howard-Tripp told CTV News Channel on Saturday.
The test uses mRNA technology to analyze gene signatures in the patient's blood sample and cross-reference them with genetic profiles of individuals who have had cancer.
"We'll take a sample of your blood and we then measure it to see whether it matches. Clearly, if it does that, we're going to say with very high probability that you have (cancer)," said Howard-Tripp.
If mRNA sounds familiar, that's because it's the same technology that's been used to develop the COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.
Howard-Tripp says the blood tests can detect cancers with 98 to 99 per cent accuracy at any stage, even in very early stages. If the blood test comes up as positive for a cancer, the patient would be advised to see a pathologist for a traditional lab test to confirm the diagnosis.
"We will always tell you that we're not the definitive test. The definitive test is always a piece of tissue in front of the pathologist," Howard-Tripp said.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, an estimated 229,200 new cancer cases and 84,600 cancer deaths are expected in 2021.
But being able to detect cancers in the earlier stages can significantly increase the likelihood of survival. For example, patients with colorectal cancers detected in stage one or two have a five-year survival rate of around 90 per cent, Howard-Tripp says.
"If you find it late, at stages three and four, you've got a 10 to 14 per cent chance of being alive in five year's time. More than two-thirds of the time, colorectal cancer is found late," he said.
Howard-Tripp says the pandemic has resulted in a "tsunami" of late-stage cancer diagnoses.
"COVID has had an absolutely massive impact on healthcare, because you don't go and see your physician because of all the difficulties with it, unless you're really ill. And at that point, you're by and large symptomatic. If you are symptomatic, you're by and large late stage," he explained.
So far, StageZero's blood tests have been made available in clinics in the Greater Toronto Area and parts of the United States. Howard-Tripp says anyone who is worried that they're at a heightened risk of cancer due to age, heritage, family history or any other factors can get screened.
"It really is simply available to anyone that might have a concern," he said.
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
Thieves killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico in order to steal their truck, particularly because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.