A new type of blood test is starting to transform cancer
treatment, sparing some patients the surgical and needle biopsies long
needed to guide their care.
The tests, called liquid biopsies, capture cancer cells or
DNA that tumors shed into the blood, instead of taking tissue from the
tumor itself. A lot is still unknown about the value of these tests, but
many doctors think they are a big advance that could make personalized
medicine possible for far more people.
They give the first noninvasive way to repeatedly sample a
cancer so doctors can profile its genes, target drugs to mutations, tell
quickly whether treatment is working, and adjust it as the cancer
evolves. The tests are mostly used when a tissue biopsy can’t easily be done,
when the cancer’s original site isn’t known, or when drugs have stopped
working and doctors are unsure what to try next, said Dr. Scott Kopetz, a
colon cancer specialist at MD Anderson. The tests are catching on
“faster than I anticipated,” he said.
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