A simple blood test that can tell if cancer has recurred, and whether treatment is working, is headed for the market, and four of the most prestigious cancer centers in the country are going to start using it experimentally this year.
The new cancer test is basically a liquid biopsy, according to Dr. Daniel Haber of Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, one of the physicians who developed the procedure . The detection of isolated cancer cells in the blood often means that a tumor is likely to spread, or is going to do so. Earlier detection can help doctors quickly adjust treatments of patients, especially those with breast, colon, lung and prostate cancers.
The physicians who developed the new cancer test said that they would partner with Johnson & Johnson to bring the test to market. The centers that will begin using the test experimentally will be Massachusetts General, Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York City, and M.D. Anderson in Houston.
J&J already has on the market a test called CellSearch, which can give a count of the number of stray cancer cells but cannot isolate and analyze them.
Eventually, depending on further research, the new test may offer an alternative to procedures like mammograms and colonoscopies.
