In a new study, researchers have developed a new blood test that can predict breast cancer’s return at the beginning of treatment.
It can predict how well breast cancer patients will respond to a drug.
The research was conducted by a team from The Institute of Cancer Research, London.
In the study, the team aimed to find a way to identify genetic changes within women’s breast cancers that can indicate these patients were less likely to respond to treatment.
This new test can achieve the goal and greatly benefit many women with drug-resistant breast cancer.
The scientists analyzed fragments of cancer DNA that have entered the bloodstream to study the effect of genetic changes in a woman’s tumor.
They used blood samples from 310 women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. This is the most common form of the disease.
The team found that 131 women had one or more of three changes in their tumor DNA that put them at risk of early relapse.
Breast cancer could come back after less than 4 months.
The team says the blood test needs to be evaluated as part of different clinical trials to assess its value in other groups of patients.
After that, it may start benefiting women with advanced breast cancer in the clinic.
In the future, the new test could help identify nearly half of women with the most common form of breast cancer who are at the highest risk of early relapse.
These patients will need further trials of new treatments to stop their cancer from becoming resistant.
One author of the study is Professor Nicholas Turner, professor of molecular oncology at the Institute of Cancer Research.
The study was presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Copyright © 2019 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
