A promising test for pancreatic cancer ... from a teenager | Jack Andraka

Translator: María Villarroel Comesaña Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

Have you ever experienced a moment in your life

Pasaron algunha vez na vida un momento

that was so painful and confusing,

tan doloroso e confuso

that all you wanted to do

que o único que querían

era aprender del o máximo posible para darlle sentido?

was learn as much as you could to make sense of it all?

When I was 13, a close family friend who was like an uncle to me

Cando tiña 13 anos, un amigo da familia, que era coma se fose meu tío,

passed away from pancreatic cancer.

faleceu de cancro de páncreas.

When the disease hit so close to home,

Cando a enfermidade golpeou tan preto da casa,

I knew I needed to learn more.

souben que tiña que aprender máis,

So I went online to find answers.

así que fun á web na busca de respostas.

Using the Internet, I found a variety of statistics on pancreatic cancer,

Atopei datos estatísticos sobre o cancro de páncreas

and what I had found shocked me.

e o que encontrei sorprendeume.

Over 85 percent of all pancreatic cancers are diagnosed late,

O 85% destes cancros detéctanse tarde,

when someone has less than a two percent chance of survival.

cando a supervivencia é inferior ao 2%.

Why are we so bad at detecting pancreatic cancer?

Por que non o detectamos con eficacia?

The reason?

A razón?

Today's current "modern" medicine is a 60-year-old technique.

A medicina usa técnicas de hai 60 anos.

That's older than my dad.

É máis vella có meu pai.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But also, it's extremely expensive, costing 800 dollars per test,

Ademais, son moi caras. Cada exame custa 800 dólares$

and it's grossly inaccurate, missing 30 percent of all pancreatic cancers.

e son inexactas: detectan o 30 % dos cancros.

Your doctor would have to be ridiculously suspicious that you have the cancer

O voso médico tería que ter fundadas sospeitas de que tedes cancro

in order to give you this test.

para pedir este exame.

Learning this, I knew there had to be a better way.

Sabía que debía haber un sistema mellor.

So, I set up scientific criteria

Por iso, establecín criterios científicos

as to what a sensor would have to look like

para determinar como debería ser un sensor

in order to effectively diagnose pancreatic cancer.

que diagnosticase con efectividade o cancro de páncreas.

The sensor would have to be:

O sensor tería que ser

inexpensive, rapid, simple, sensitive,

de baixo custo, rápido, simple, sensible,

selective, and minimally invasive.

selectivo e pouco invasivo.

Now, there's a reason why this test hasn't been updated in over six decades.

Hai unha razón pola que esa proba leva sesenta anos sen actualizarse.

And that's because when we're looking for pancreatic cancer,

Porque cando buscamos cancro de páncreas,

we're looking at your bloodstream,

analizamos a corrente sanguínea,

que está repleta de proteínas

which is already abundant in all these tons and tons of protein,

and you're looking for this miniscule difference in this tiny amount of protein.

e buscamos unha diferenza minúscula neste volume de proteínas.

Just this one protein.

Só unha proteína específica.

É case imposible.

That's next to impossible.

Pero, grazas ao meu optimismo adolescente

However, undeterred due to my teenage optimism --

(Laughter)

(Risas)

(Aplausos)

(Applause)

I went online to a teenager's two best friends, Google and Wikipedia.

fun consultar os dous mellores amigos do adolescente: Google e a Wikipedia.

I got everything for my homework from those two sources.

De aí sacaba todo o necesario para facer os deberes.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

E encontrei un artigo

And what I had found was an article

that listed a database of over 8,000 different proteins

que enumeraba unhas 8000 proteínas

that are found when you have pancreatic cancer.

presentes cando se ten cancro de páncreas.

So, I decided to go and make it my new mission

Por iso decidín seguir e facer disto a miña nova misión:

to go through all these proteins,

analizar todas estas proteínas

and see which ones could serve as a bio-marker for pancreatic cancer.

e ver cales poderían ser biomarcadores do cancro.

E para simplificar un pouco o traballo,

And to make it a bit simpler for myself,

I decided to map out scientific criteria, and here it is.

tracei un mapa cos criterios científicos. Velaquí o está.

Essentially, first, the protein would have to be found in all pancreatic cancers,

A proteína debe estar presente en todos os cancros pancreáticos,

at high levels in the bloodstream,

en altas concentracións na corrente sanguínea,

in the earliest stages, but also only in cancer.

nas etapas temperás, pero só no cancro.

And so I'm just plugging and chugging through this gargantuan task,

Estaba toleando con esta enorme tarefa

and finally, on the 4,000th try,

e ao final, despois de 4000 intentos,

when I'm close to losing my sanity,

cando estaba a punto de perder o xuízo,

I find the protein.

atopei a proteína.

And the name of the protein I'd located was called mesothelin,

Chámase mesotelina,

and it's just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill type protein,

unha proteína común e corrente,

unless, of course, you have pancreatic, ovarian or lung cancer,

agás que teñas cancro de páncreas, ovario ou pulmón,

in which case it's found at these very high levels in your bloodstream.

nese caso a concentración é alta.

But also, the key is that it's found in the earliest stages of the disease,

A clave é que está no inicio da doenza,

when someone has close to 100 percent chance of survival.

cando a supervivencia é case do 100%.

Xa atopara unha proteína para detectalo,

So now that I'd found a reliable protein I could detect,

I then shifted my focus to actually detecting that protein,

entón centreime en detectar a proteína

and thus, pancreatic cancer.

e, con ela, o cancro de páncreas.

Now, my breakthrough came in a very unlikely place,

O meu achado chegou nun lugar insólito,

no lugar menos probable para a innovación:

possibly the most unlikely place for innovation --

a clase de bioloxía de secundaria, o inhibidor absoluto da innovación.

my high school biology class, the absolute stifler of innovation.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

Lin este artigo sobre algo chamado nanotubos de carbono,

And I had snuck in this article on these things called carbon nanotubes,

and that's just a long, thin pipe of carbon

que son tubos finos e longos de carbono,

that's an atom thick, and one 50,000th the diameter of your hair.

do grosor dun átomo e 1/50000 do diámetro dun cabelo.

E a pesar das súas pequenas dimensións,

And despite their extremely small sizes,

they have these incredible properties.

teñen propiedades incribles.

They're kind of like the superheroes of material science.

Son os superheroes da ciencia dos materiais.

And while I was sneakily reading this article under my desk in my biology class,

Mentres lía este artigo, que tiña agachado baixo o meu pupitre na clase de bioloxía,

we were supposed to be paying attention to these other kind of cool molecules,

supoñíase que lles atendía a outros interesantes tipos de moléculas:

os anticorpos.

called antibodies.

And these are pretty cool because they only react

Son moi interesantes porque só reaccionan

with one specific protein,

a unha proteína específica,

but they're not nearly as interesting as carbon nanotubes.

pero non tanto como os nanotubos.

And so then, I was sitting in class, and suddenly it hit me:

Así que estaba sentado nesa clase, e de súpeto decateime:

I could combine what I was reading about, carbon nanotubes,

podía combinar o que estivera lendo sobre os nanotubos de carbono

with what I was supposed to be thinking about, antibodies.

con aquelo ao que supostamente lle atendera: os anticorpos.

Essentially, I could weave a bunch of these antibodies

Podía tecer un feixe destes anticorpos

into a network of carbon nanotubes,

para formar unha rede de nanotubos

such that you have a network that only reacts with one protein,

que só reaccionase a unha proteína

but also, due to the properties of these nanotubes,

e grazas ás propiedades dos nanotubos,

it will change its electrical properties,

cambiaría as súas propiedades eléctricas

based on the amount of protein present.

en función do número de proteínas presentes.

However, there's a catch.

Pero hai un problema.

These networks of carbon nanotubes are extremely flimsy.

Estas redes de nanotubos son moi débiles.

Son tan finos, que precisan un soporte.

And since they're so delicate, they need to be supported.

So that's why I chose to use paper.

Por iso elixín usar papel.

Making a cancer sensor out of paper is about as simple

Facer un sensor de cancro con papel é tan simple

as making chocolate chip cookies, which I love.

como facer galletas con labras de chocolate... encántame!.

(Laughs)

(Risas)

You start with some water, pour in some nanotubes,

Comézase con auga, bótanse uns cantos nanotubos,

add antibodies, mix it up, take some paper, dip it, dry it,

engádense anticorpos, mestúrase, cóllese papel, móllase, sécase

and you can detect cancer.

e pódese detectar o cáncer.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

Then, suddenly, a thought occurred

Logo, de repente, caín na conta

that kind of put a blemish on my amazing plan here.

de que había un defecto no meu plan.

I can't really do cancer research on my kitchen countertop.

Non podo investigar sobre o cancro no mesado da cociña.

My mom wouldn't really like that.

A miña nai non lle gustaría.

So instead, I decided to go for a lab.

Polo tanto, decidín buscar un laboratorio.

So I typed up a budget, a materials list, a timeline, and a procedure,

Elaborei orzamento, material, calendario e procedemento

and I emailed it to 200 different professors

e envieilles correos a 200 profesores distintos

at Johns Hopkins University and the National Institutes of Health --

da Johns Hopkins University e dos Institutos Nacionais de Saúde.

basicamente, a calquera que tivera algo que ver co cancro de páncreas.

essentially, anyone that had anything to do with pancreatic cancer.

I sat back waiting for these positive emails to be pouring in,

E senteime a agardar polas respostas positivas

saying, "You're a genius! You're going to save us all!"

que dirían: “Es un xenio! Vasnos salvar!”

And --

E...

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Then reality took hold, and over the course of a month,

Despois impúxose a realidade e, ao cabo dun mes,

I got 199 rejections out of those 200 emails.

rexeitáranme en 199 dos 200 correos.

One professor even went through my entire procedure,

Un profesor revisou todo o procedemento,

painstakingly -- I'm not really sure where he got all this time --

--non sei de onde sacou o tempo--

and he went through and said why each and every step

e explicoume punto por punto por que cada paso

was like the worst mistake I could ever make.

era un enorme erro.

Clearly, the professors did not have as high of an opinion of my work as I did.

Obviamente, os profesores non tiñan unha opinión tan alta do meu traballo.

However, there is a silver lining.

Con todo, había unha físgoa de esperanza.

One professor said, "Maybe I might be able to help you, kid."

Un dixo: “Talvez poida axudarche, rapaz”.

Así que fun nesa dirección.

So, I went in that direction.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

As you can never say no to a kid.

Nunca se pode dicir "non" a un rapaciño.

E así, tres meses máis tarde,

And so then, three months later,

I finally nailed down a harsh deadline with this guy,

acordei unha reunión con este home,

and I get into his lab, I get all excited, and then I sit down,

fun ao laboratorio, entusiasmado, senteime

I start opening my mouth and talking,

abrín a boca e comecei a falar.

Cinco segundos despois chama a outro doutor.

and five seconds later, he calls in another Ph.D.

Ph.D.s just flock into this little room,

O cuarto énchese de doutores

and they're just firing these questions at me,

que comezaron a torpedearme a preguntas

and by the end, I kind of felt like I was in a clown car.

e sentíame coma un espectáculo de feira.

There were 20 Ph.D.s, plus me and the professor

Estabamos 20 doutores, o profesor e mais eu,

crammed into this tiny office space,

amoreados nesa pequena oficina

with them firing these rapid-fire questions at me,

e eles bombardeándome a preguntas,

trying to sink my procedure.

tratando de afundir o meu procedemento.

How unlikely is that? I mean, pshhh.

Que probabilidade ten? En fin…

(Laughter)

(Risas)

However, subjecting myself to that interrogation --

Porén, sometinme ao interrogatorio,

I answered all their questions, and I guessed on quite a few

respondín todas as preguntas, algunhas ao chou,

but I got them right --

pero acertei,

and I finally landed the lab space I needed.

e conseguín o espazo de laboratorio que precisaba.

But it was shortly afterwards that I discovered my once brilliant procedure

Pouco despois descubrín que o meu brillante procedemento

had something like a million holes in it,

tiña un millón de buratos,

and over the course of seven months,

e ao longo de 7 meses,

I painstakingly filled each and every one of those holes.

fun tapando minuciosamente cada un deles.

The result?

O resultado?

One small paper sensor that costs three cents and takes five minutes to run.

Un sensor de papel de 3 centavos que funciona en 5 minutos.

This makes it 168 times faster,

Isto é 168 veces máis rápido,

over 26,000 times less expensive,

máis de 26000 veces máis barato

and over 400 times more sensitive than our current standard

e 400 veces máis sensible ca o actual test

for pancreatic cancer detection.

de detección de cancro de páncreas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

One of the best parts of the sensor, though,

Unha das mellores partes do sensor

é que ten preto do 100% de precisión

is that it has close to 100 percent accuracy,

and can detect the cancer in the earliest stages,

e pode detectar o cancro nos seus inicios

when someone has close to 100 percent chance of survival.

cando se ten case o 100 % de posibilidades de supervivencia.

And so in the next two to five years,

E así, nos próximos dous a cinco anos

this sensor could potentially lift the pancreatic cancer survival rates

este sensor podería elevar a supervivencia

from a dismal 5.5 percent to close to 100 percent,

dun triste 5,5 % a case o 100 %,

and it would do similar for ovarian and lung cancer.

e o mesmo se podería dicir para os cancros de ovario e pulmón.

Pero iso non é todo.

But it wouldn't stop there.

By switching out that antibody,

Cambiando o anticorpo,

you can look at a different protein, thus, a different disease --

podemos ver outra proteína e outra doenza,

potentially any disease in the entire world.

en teoría calquera enfermidade do mundo.

So that ranges from heart disease, to malaria, HIV, AIDS,

Abrangue desde doenzas cardíacas ata malaria, VIH, sida,,

as well as other forms of cancer -- anything.

así como outros tipos de cancro --todo.

And so, hopefully one day,

E quizais, un día,

we can all have that one extra uncle,

todos poidamos ter un tío extra,

that one mother, that one brother, sister,

esa nai, ese irmán, esa irmá,

todos poidamos ter ese familiar que amamos

we can have that one more family member to love.

e que os nosos corazóns se libren da carga que supón a enfermidade

And that our hearts will be rid of that one disease burden

that comes from pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer,

vinculada ao cancro de páncreas, ovario e pulmón

and potentially any disease.

ou calquera outra enfermidade.

But through the Internet, anything is possible.

Grazas a internet todo é posible.

Theories can be shared,

As teorías compártense

and you don't have to be a professor with multiple degrees

e non é preciso ser un profesor con moitos títulos

to have your ideas valued.

para que as túas ideas se valoren.

It's a neutral space, where what you look like, age or gender --

É un espazo neutral, onde o aspecto, a idade ou o sexo

it doesn't matter.

tanto teñen.

It's just your ideas that count.

O que importa son as ideas.

Trátase de utilizar internet doutro xeito

For me, it's all about looking at the Internet in an entirely new way,

to realize that there's so much more to it

e decatarse de que hai moito máis

than just posting duck-face pictures of yourself online.

que publicar autofotos poñendo cariñas.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

You could be changing the world.

Poderiades cambiar o mundo.

So if a 15 year-old who didn't even know what a pancreas was

Se un rapaz de 15 anos que non sabía qué era o páncreas.

could find a new way to detect pancreatic cancer --

atopou unha forma nova de detectar o cancro de páncreas

just imagine what you could do.

imaxinade o que podedes facer vós.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)