ICYMI: The Emergence of Cancer Liquid Biopsies – NCI Cancer Currents

The Emergence of Cancer Liquid Biopsies Go to any big cancer research meeting these days and one topic of frequent discussion will almost certainly be liquid biopsies. At the 2024 American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting last month, the program was chock full of studies and sessions where liquid biopsies dominated the discourse. There were studies of tests that analyze blood, urine, and saliva for free-floating bits of tumor DNA or RNA, exosomes, and extracellular vesicles. Some of these tests are designed to try to identify cancer at its earliest stages, some to predict whether a patient might respond to a given therapy, and still others to monitor people undergoing treatment to see if it's working. Common to all liquid biopsies is that they offer ways of using body fluids to obtain critical information about a person's cancer without resorting to invasive procedures like surgery to get a sample of a tumor. Cancer Currents has been closely following the boom in liquid biopsy research, including a story we just published about a promising liquid biopsy for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. So, in case you have missed our stories on cancer liquid biopsies, here's an opportunity to catch up on where this exciting and potentially transformative technology is heading. As always, we welcome your feedback on Cancer Currents. And if you know somebody with an interest in staying up to date on the latest in cancer research, please feel free to forward them this newsletter. Carmen Phillips Managing Editor, Cancer Currents Blood Test Accurately Detects Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer In a new study involving nearly 1,000 people, a liquid biopsy accurately detected early- and late-stage pancreatic cancer. When paired with a test for the protein CA19-9, the combination accurately identified 97% of people with early-stage disease. Read More ctDNA May Guide Who Needs Chemo After Colorectal Cancer Surgery Results from a new study suggest that the presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood samples can predict which patients with colorectal cancer should and shouldn't get chemotherapy after surgery to remove their tumors. Read More Pump Up the Volume: "Priming Agents" May Improve Cancer Liquid Biopsies Using two different techniques, researchers showed they could temporarily boost ctDNA levels in the blood of mice with tumors. With more ctDNA in collected blood draws, a liquid biopsy could better detect cancer, the research team found. Read More FDA Authorizes Blood Test for Assessing Risk of Hereditary Cancers The Food and Drug Administration for the first time has granted marketing authorization for a blood test, the Invitae Common Hereditary Cancers Panel. The test detects inherited genetic changes that increase the risk of developing certain cancers. Read More Can the New "Omics" on the Block Find Liver Cancer in Blood? Researchers have developed a blood test that, in a preliminary study, accurately detected liver cancer, including in people with early-stage disease. The test uses a new type of technology called fragmentomics to analyze bits of DNA in the blood. Read More Liquid Biopsies on the Horizon for Children with Solid Cancers Results from a new study highlight the progress being made toward developing liquid biopsies specifically for use in children with solid cancers like Ewing sarcoma and Wilms tumor. The tests can help detect and diagnose cancer and monitor for response to treatment and recurrence. Read More Additional Resources from NCI Liquid Biopsy Consortium Technology – Cancer Currents Blog Cancer Screening and Early Detection Research Cancer Diagnosis Research To read more news and research updates from the National Cancer Institute, visit the Cancer Currents blog.

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