According to the researchers at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), liquid biopsies from blood samples may be equally efficient as traditional tumor biopsies. At the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting on Saturday, oncologists stated this new thesis to colleagues. This modern method would aim a postulate of minimal invasion, so it can become a great alternative for patients who cannot undergo a tissue biopsy.
Experts in developmental therapeutics say that the painful tissue biopsy soon to be replaced by another kind of biopsy – liquid one. Oncologists explained that accepting a fresh method based on patients’ needs, as well as is able to detect cancer beyond tumor biopsy. Liquid biopsy would help physicians to select better treatment for patients. A presentation with detailed findings&figures were shown at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting on 4th June.
Sumant Kumar, an ASCO expert in developmental therapeutics, said that genomic mutations may alter and shift over time among patients. This may be a major challenge for cancer treatment in the “precision medicine era,” Kumar added. Traditionally, physicians depend on tumor tissue biopsies, to find out if the tumors have genetic variations that can be treated using anti-cancer medicines.
The study compares patterns of genetic alterations in blood samples to those in tumor biopsy. To make sure that the new liquid biopsy method is working, researchers analyzed 15,000 blood samples from more than with 50 different tumor types. This has been the largest cancer genomic study ever conducted in medicine.
