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A blood sample test which detects abnormal DNA from tumor cells circulating in the blood stream could help indicate whether women with advanced breast cancer are responding to treatment. This test could potentially outperform other existing blood tests at assessing women’s response to treatment for metastatic breast cancer.
WEDNESDAY, March 13 (HealthDay News) — An experimental blood test could help show whether women with advanced breast cancer are responding to treatment, a preliminary study suggests.
The test detects abnormal DNA from tumor cells circulating in the blood. And the new findings, reported in the March 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, hint that it could outperform existing blood tests at gauging some women’s response to treatment for metastatic breast cancer.
That’s an advanced form of breast cancer, where tumors have spread to other parts of…
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Since the test is expensive and time-consuming it is not ready for clinical practice, but it has great potential for the future. It could help monitor women with metastatic breast cancer or spot a breast cancer recurrence much earlier than tests that are currently being used.
