Blood tests examine women's reaction to breast cancer treatment

Breast tumour DNA could be used to measure how well a woman's cancer is responding to treatment, a new study has found.

Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute took regular samples from 30 women with advanced breast cancer that had spread, with tumour DNA, Cancer Antigen 15-3 and free-floating tumour cells used as the biomarkers.

The experts compared these findings with CT scans to investigate if changes in the biomarkers matched up with alterations in the cancer.

It was found that, of the three biomarkers, tumour DNA in women's blood gave the most precise "real time" picture of changes occurring in the body.

The study was part-funded by Cancer Research UK and backed by the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Centre at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr Nitzan Rosenfeld, group leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and co-lead author of the study, said: "This work marks an important step in establishing circulating tumour DNA as a key biomarker for monitoring advanced breast cancer patients.

"By rigorous comparison to markers such as circulating tumour cells and CT imaging, we have shown that personalised genomic tests provide a sensitive and non-invasive measure of cancer spread and response to treatment."

Mr Rosenfield went on to say that the study showed that such changes can be measured effectively through a number of practical methods.

Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, also commented on the quantitative analysis, explaining that the results indicate a system that could enable clinical workers to alter a person's treatment as their cancer changes.

"One of the things that will help our scientists design better cancer treatments is a way of measuring early on which ones are working and which are not," Mr Johnson stated.

Posted by Neil Clark