(Ivanhoe Newswire) Researchers have developed a simple blood test that
can help doctors assess treatment effectiveness for patients with metastatic
breast cancer.
"The current standard of care for metastatic disease involves the use of
radiology studies such as CT scans, ultrasounds and the like to determine
whether or not patients are deriving benefit from their current therapies. With
this blood test, we have another reliable tool to help guide critical treatment
decisions," Minetta Liu, M.D., lead investigator and director of translational
breast cancer research at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown
University was quoted as saying.
"The keys are to find the most effective therapy for each patient and to balance
treatment benefit with quality of life, said Liu. This noninvasive method of
monitoring patients based on a simple blood test brings us closer to these
goals."
Using the FDA-approved CellSearch technology, researchers measured the number of
circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood collected from women in need of a new
treatment regimen for metastatic breast cancer. A blood sample was collected
when the patient began a new therapy, and repeated at three to four week
intervals. A CTC count of five or more (per 7.5 mL of blood) was associated with
disease progression.
"There was a highly significant correlation between the CTC result and the
radiographic findings," said Liu. "The correlation was as significant for blood
samples drawn at the time of imaging as it was for blood samples drawn as early
as nine weeks before imaging. This advanced knowledge may allow us to determine
much sooner if a therapy is ineffective so that we can change therapy earlier,
avoid unnecessary side effects from agents with no treatment benefit, and
potentially make more significant improvements in survival."
Liu said the study's findings also support monitoring CTCs to guide the timing
of radiology studies. "We order scans at regular intervals because of
convention. If we waited to obtain radiology studies in response to new
symptoms, suspicious routine laboratory findings, and/or a shift in the CTC
count from less than five to five or more, we could limit the number of scans
needed and reduce health care costs, personal time away from family and work,
and radiographic and contrasts exposures. This could have a very positive impact
on a patient's quality of life."
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Oncology, September 14, 2009
