'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
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.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a suspect in a homicide investigation after a man was slashed in downtown Toronto on Sunday.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.