Could Blood Tests Replace Surgical Lung Biospies?
https://ift.tt/2tHrHms For the study, Papadimitrakopoulou and her colleagues used Guardant360 to identify mutant genes in the blood of nearly 300 patients. Specifically, the tests were focused on seven "biomarkers" in blood samples -- tumor-specific gene mutations that can help identify subtypes of lung cancer. The Guardant360 test also looked for one biomarker -- called KRAS -- that helps predict a cancer patient's prognosis, the research team said. The blood test seemed to outperform standard tissue biopsy. While the standard surgical biopsy found at least one marker predictive of lung cancer in 60 patients, the blood test spotted it in 89 patients, the findings showed. Drugs that target many of these lung tumor gene mutations are already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the researchers noted. Among the more than 190 patients who did not show the presence of one of the seven genetic tumor biomarkers, testing was often still able to spot the KRAS prognostic biomarker, the study team said. Again, the blood test beat tissue biopsy in this regard: The Guardant360 test spotted the KRAS biomarker in 92 patients, compared with 24 patients who underwent standard biopsy. Still, the new study was limited in two ways. First, Guardant360 results weren't compared to the results of the very latest gene-based surgical biopsy analyses. And secondly, the results apply only to the Guardant360 test -- not to other liquid biopsies already out there. One lung cancer specialist was still heartened by the results, however. "For years, we have been doing surgical biopsies, but over the last few years there's been a recognition that this is more a 'molecular disease,' governed by [gene] mutations," said Dr. Richard Lazzaro, chief of thoracic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. It's also been known that cancer cells can shed their DNA into the blood, he said. "If you can make diagnosis and treating decisions and save time, that's outstanding for patient care," Lazzaro said. Effective treatment, delivered sooner after diagnosis, should improve survival, he added. Already, liquid biopsies are often being used in tandem with surgical biopsies, Lazzaro noted. Health via WebMD Health https://www.webmd.com/ February 28, 2019 at 11:36AM
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