Cancer monitoring test unveiled

Thursday May 31st, 2012

A new kind of blood test could monitor the progress of cancer treatment - helping doctors identify genetic mutations, it was announced last night.

The test, developed in Cambridge, UK, measures fragments of DNA in the blood.

The fragments are left by cancer cells as they die.

The scientists say they have used the test in a trial involving a woman with breast cancer, measuring how her disease was responding to treatment.

It has also been used on 20 women with ovarian cancer to identify genetic mutations taking place as the cancer spreads.

The discovery was reported in Science Translational Medicine. The researchers say that two per cent of the DNA they found in advanced cancer patients came from the disease.

Researcher Dr Nitzan Rosenfeld, of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, said: “This type of blood test has the potential to revolutionise the way we diagnose and treat cancer.

"The great advantage is that it can be used to identify cancer mutations without surgery or a biopsy, making it safer and cheaper.”

He added: "This test could be adapted to look for mutations in different cancers and updated to include new genetic faults as research uncovers them.”

Fellow researcher Dr James Brenton, a specialist in ovarian cancer, said: “Our technique is much more comprehensive and practical than others that have been used to measure DNA in the blood."

Non-invasive identification and monitoring of cancer mutations by targeted deep sequencing of plasma DNA. Forshew, T et al. Science Translational Medicine May 31 2012

Tags: Cancer | Genetics | UK News | Women's Health & Gynaecology

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