Liquid Biopsies: A New, Less Painful Way to Detecting Cancer
A new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology by Guardant Health has shown cancer can be detected through blood tests via DNA fragments from tumors.
According to NH Voice, the researchers have found after looking at the results of the so-called liquid biopsies, which show that mutations found in the blood are also found in tumors.
The study used blood samples from around 15,000 cancer patients and 50 types of tumors. The liquid biopsy being used in the study is called Guardant360, as per Perf Science.
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Surgical biopsies are invasive and can be expensive and painful. The patient may also be not healthy enough to undergo the procedure. Researchers believe liquid biopsies could become an alternative to detecting cancer.
"These findings suggest that analysis of shed tumor DNA in patient blood, also known as a liquid biopsy, can be a highly informative, minimally-invasive alternative when a tissue biopsy is insufficient for genotyping or cannot be obtained safely," said Philip Mack, director of molecular pharmacology at the University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.
David Nanus, chief of hematology and medical oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital has welcomed the results of the liquid biopsy tests. "To be able to draw that information from a blood test is a huge step forward," he told The Star.
However, Dr. Edward Kim, an expert on lung cancer mutations, said the use of tumor samples would provide a more thorough analysis than blood samples. This echoed Mack's comment that the conventional biopsy would remain to be the "gold standard" because it would provide more information on the characteristics of tumors and how they are likely to develop.
Companies, including the Foundation Health and Grail, have also been looking at developing liquid biopsies. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just given its first approval for a test of liquid biopsies. Some companies have sold liquid biopsy tests, which do not require the approval of the FDA.
Cancer is one of the major problems of China, the number one most populated country in the world. Survival rate is higher if cancer is treated at the early stages, according to Info Please.
Liquid biopsies nevertheless have generated excitement in cancer research as it can be used to monitor the effects of cancer treatment, give an early warning about possible recurrence and offer clues to the reasons for treatment resistance. NCBI also said that it could be used to guide cancer treatment or in detecting tumors that are not yet visible on imaging.
