Diagnosing cancer might be a new use for liquid biopsies, which are usually used to monitor the disease or detect mutations. This tool could make it easier to track how tumors mutate and change allowing for flexible adjustments for treatment options that won’t be as invasive or expensive.
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“Although tumor biopsies are generally used to assess changes in a cancer’s DNA, blood samples can do the same thing, according to the study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology”, according to a news report published by Global Post.
Mack said a trained pathologist can determine what kind of tumor is present based on the appearance of cells in a tissue sample – and whether cancer a extracted from the liver actually originated somewhere else, like in the lung. Several companies have been racing to develop so-called liquid biopsies, which can identify tiny genetic material, shed by tumors, that circulates in the blood, without the need for invasive surgery to remove pieces of the tumor. The researchers said that liquid biopsies provided absolutely correct genomic information of the tumor.
According to a story published on the topic by Washington Post, “The liquid biopsy test used in the study was Guardant360, which looks for nearly 70 mutations”. ASCO experts said the research, described as the largest-ever liquid biopsy study, marks an important step forward for the field but more research is needed to establish the clinical utility of assays being developed throughout the testing industry.
Overall, liquid biopsies matched the results of tissue samples 87 percent of the time.
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These specialized blood tests could offer certain advantages not found in the tissue-oriented method, noted Fortune.
Some of those researchers are now looking into whether liquid biopsies are as accurate as a regular biopsy. He believes the real value of liquid biopsy will show itself as a patient’s cancer treatment proceeds. It is made by Guardant Health, which also funded the effort. First, it compared the patterns of genomic changes in ctDNA to those found in 398 patients with available results of genetic testing of the tumor tissue.
The next frontier could be to develop a blood test to detect many or virtually all types of cancer at an early stage, when they might be most easily treatable.
Philip Mack, Ph.D., director of molecular pharmacology at the University of California, Davis, Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues used a new genetic scan called Guardant360 that analyzes cancer DNA in patients’ blood, looking for mutations in 70 different cancer-related genes. The blood tests, known as liquid biopsies, represent one of the hottest trends in oncology. The study received funding from Guardant Health Inc., which produces the test used in the study. “Probably the biggest role for plasma analysis will be occurring down the road as patients are progressing on therapies as their tumors are evolving as a way to monitor progression of those cancers”, said Mack.
“Right now, in 2016, I think it’s a complementary test”, he said, noting that it is most useful when tissue is not available for genetic testing, as is often the case with lung cancer patients, where tissue biopsies are hard to obtain.
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“I’m not personally ready to give up tissue”, said Kim, who is chairman of solid tumor oncology at the Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina.
