Conan: The Mechanic

a few hours later.

"Ouch—" With the sound of vomiting, Mrs. Keiko spit out a small amount of the food she had eaten before and more gastric juices into the metal basin she was holding.

"Although it's a bit out of place to say that," Qian Yu yawned, took the pot, and emptied the pot and its contents into the trash cabinet next to her. "But you're getting better, right?"

"Yes, at least now I have the strength to sit up and vomit hard," Mrs. Keiko turned to look at Qianyu. "And my eyesight has also recovered - I thought you had red hair before, but I didn't expect it to be a misjudgment caused by my eyesight."

"It's not a big deal. As long as you can recover, we'll be very happy." Qian Yu shook his head.

……

Meanwhile, Gregory's office.

"This theory...isn't it a little too radical?" Fujiwara frowned slightly, looking at the documents brought by Gregory. "Is this case we encountered really..."

"This concept, to be honest, I feel like it's just a guess, is it really true?" Hotaru, who was woken up, was also a little embarrassed.

"The current evidence does not deny it," Fujiwara handed the test report. "Evidence from the genetic quick-check shows that the genes of the deceased's pancreatic tumor are identical to those of the transplanted intestine, and both should be identified as the organ donor's DNA."

"It's a conjecture, but since it's a conjecture, it means that this thing has not been refuted, and it is completely tenable." Gregory was very confident. "Medicine is inherently a discipline that is constantly advancing through cases. When the future of medicine is in our hands, don't miss it."

They are discussing a concept that is somewhat unfamiliar to medical students: [cancer stem cells]

Contrary to common human cognitive understanding, the interior of a cancer tumor is not just composed of a single type of cell—it contains multiple subpopulations that vary in growth rate, metastatic ability, immune profile, and response to various treatments. There are differences in sensitivity. In response to such a situation, a theory emerged: Is there a kind of stem cell in the tumor boundary that is specifically responsible for differentiating and forming new tumors like normal stem cells in normal humans?

Although such a theory has been proposed before, since no clear evidence has been found for a long time, it is still at a stage that is not generally recognized by others in the medical community.

However, if today's case can be used as solid evidence for cancer stem cells...

More than two decades ago, the organ donor died and his organs were donated to multiple patients. But what is unexpected is that, perhaps due to genetics or other reasons, multiple proto-cancer stem cell clusters have appeared in his body, or due to a lack of a certain substance, it is in danger of staying one step before becoming a working cancer stem cell. product. (Such an inference is more realistic than the former, because the symptoms of cancer in a person full of cancer stem cells are bound to be relatively obvious. If it has developed to a certain extent, it is impossible to escape the doctor's eyes, and if the development is still It is unlikely that it will be present in all organs early on.)

In the initial stages of transplantation, these organs performed well, but, disturbingly, the cancer stem cells that followed the organ to the new host took root in the transplant recipient, progressed slowly, and even perfected in an inopportune place. into their bodies. For example, rooted in the heart, rooted in the lungs...

In the ordinary and short to medium term, this is still acceptable and harmless. But in the long run, things are less fun.

The reason why cancer cells are called cancer cells is because all they can do is make up for it. When the body needs them to work, it's all over.

For example, when the heart is beating rapidly, the piece cannot contract and relax normally, but maintains its original shape rigidly, and eventually twists the weak part that is not tough enough to open a fragment, causing blood to spurt out.

And now, in Mrs. Keiko's body, the proto-cancer stem cells that were brought along from the cornea entered Mrs. Keiko's brain like this, took root in the part in charge of vision, and only began to affect her vision in the last few hours. .

"Okay, then let's assume that this is ok, then for a more realistic problem," Hotaru nodded embarrassedly. "Mrs. Keiko's cancer, what should I do? Can continuing chemotherapy get rid of these so-called [cancer stem cells]?"

"The jury is still out, after all, there haven't even been observed cases of cancer stem cells infecting people," Gregory shrugged. "However, considering that this old man with pancreatic cancer had a long history of taking methotrexate and eventually died of cancer, it means that cancer stem cells may be able to develop their own power under the action of anticancer drugs. In this case, What works for ordinary cancer cells doesn't necessarily work for cancer stem cells. If we can't find newer and stronger means, I'm afraid we can only remove as much as possible the tumor that has been found, and urge her to have an annual physical examination to help potential of new tumors for specialized testing.”

"Anyway, what we got is much more than expected. At least now we know his cause, and it can prolong her life." Fujiwara seemed very confident about Mrs. Keiko's treatment. "So, should we prepare for tumor resection now?"

"Her condition has begun to improve~www.NovelMTL.com~ This is a good thing, but it is also a bad thing." Gregory shook his head. "Although her condition has improved, the risk of craniotomy is still very high. This leads to a very embarrassing thing - once there is something else in the process, then we will be blamed."

"Then what are we going to do, just let her go back and wait until the cancer continues to rage to a certain extent?" Fujiwara frowned slightly.

"Theoretically speaking, stem cells have some proteins that can be used for specific labeling," Gregory had already prepared. "If we can look at the stem cells in this old man's pancreas and identify the protein that can be used as a specific marker, we can give Mrs. Keiko an isotope and then label the protein.

"Congratulations, you have another very important resume on your resume... In other words, wouldn't that kid come back this time because he guessed that there would be such a result?"

Following Gregory's muttering, Fujiwara and Hotaru looked at each other.

"It's possible," Ying nodded. "He agreed to join in after seeing the complexity of the case... From my point of view on his view of love, maybe he left Shiho behind and ran back with me in the hope of getting her The name is attached to the name of our research group."

………………

Next, the whole book will begin to end, and the timeline will be looser (because many events have their own fixed dates)

Perhaps the length of the next 300 chapters can be rushed from the end of October to March 1995.

During this period, many cases may be added in the form of extras, but I don't know the order (may even be added as a small dessert after the finale)