A new blood test can predict the risk of breast cancer recurrence three years before tumors show up on CT scans, a finding “incredibly interesting” that could help more women beat this disease once and for all.
A blood test can predict the risk of breast cancer recurrence PHOTO: SHUTERSTOCK
More than 2 million women are diagnosed each year with breast cancer, the most common type of the disease. Although treatment has improved in recent decades, the cancer often comes back, and if it does, it's usually at a more advanced stage.
According to theguardian, research presented at the world's biggest cancer conference has shown that a personalized liquid biopsy could provide a very early warning sign of cancer returning.
The results of a trial of the tests, revealed at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, suggest that they could help identify women who need preventive therapy and patients who can be spared it.
Explanations of the researchers
The test detects tiny amounts of cancer DNA in the blood. Test results show that it is so sensitive that it can accurately predict the risk of cancer recurrence, months or even years before the usual signs or symptoms begin to appear.
Researchers at Breast Cancer Now's Toby Robins research center in London were able to identify every patient in the study who subsequently had a recurrence. The average time to relapse was 15 months, and the longest was 41 months.
“Early detection is one of the best weapons against breast cancer and these initial results, which suggest that tests may be able to detect signs of breast cancer recurrence over a year before symptoms appear, are incredibly exciting “said Simon Vincent, director of research at Breast Cancer Now, which helped fund the study.
Previous research has suggested that cDNA blood tests can identify recurrence before it can be seen on a scan. However, these tests tend to use a technique called whole-exome sequencing, which typically looks for between 16 and 50 mutations. The new test uses whole-genome sequencing and looks for 1,800 mutations, making it much more sensitive.
The researchers analyzed blood from 78 patients with different types of breast cancer. The new test correctly flagged a high risk of relapse in all 11 patients who relapsed during the five-year study.
All 60 women in whom the test did not find cDNA did not relapse, meaning there were also no false negatives.
