Blood test could detect cancer relapse 8 months sooner

 

Researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research in London have come up with a new blood test that can detect breast cancer relapses up to eight months sooner than previously possible by searching for the DNA of residual cancer cells in a patient’s bloodstream.

According to Telegraph and BBC News, the scientists collected tumor and blood samples from 55 patients who had early-stage breast cancer, and who had undergone surgery after being given chemotherapy treatment for their disease. By using the blood test after the operation, and then every six months afterwards, they were able to predict 12 of the 15 instances of relapse.

The women who tested positive for tumor DNA in their bloodstreams faced a 12 times greater risk of relapse than those who tested negative, and the return of their cancer was detected nearly eight months before the emergence of an visible signs, the study authors explained.

Dr. Nick Peel of Cancer Research UK told BBC News that it was “really important” to find less invasive ways to diagnose and monitor cancer, and that blood samples were one possible way to collect vital information about the disease by searching for tumor DNA fragments. However, he cautioned that there is “some way to go” before this technique can be used regularly.

“Liquid biopsy” technique could help shape future cancer drugs

Their findings, which have been published in the journal Science Transitional Medicine, are an important step forward in the use of “liquid biopsy” techniques to change the way that cancers are monitored, and also show how genetic mutations build up in tumors as they develop over time, trial leader and oncologist Dr. Nicholas Turner and his colleagues added.

“We have shown how a simple blood test has the potential to accurately predict which patients will relapse from breast cancer, much earlier than we can currently. This information could be invaluable to help doctors select the correct drugs to treat the cancer,” he told the BBC, adding that the study was the first “to show that these blood tests could be used to predict relapse.”

Professor Paul Workman, Chief Executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, told the Telegraph, “We are moving into an era of personalized medicine for cancer patients [and] this test could help us stay a step ahead of cancer by monitoring the way it is changing and picking treatments that exploit the weakness of the particular tumor.”

“It is really fantastic that we can get such a comprehensive insight about what is going on in the cancer all over the body, without the need for invasive biopsies,” Workman added. “Studies like this also give us a better understanding of how cancer changes to evade treatments – knowledge we can use when we are designing the new cancer drugs of the future.”

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