Less invasive cancer screening test on the horizon

Cancer screening blood test being developed

A breakthrough blood test to detect cancer cells are set to be developed by a team of Boston researchers and pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson, the collaborators will announce on Monday. The blood test will enter the experimental stage later as four cancer treatment facilities commence clinical trials.

Medical scientists are trying to come up with a less invasive test that will spot even tiny amounts of stray cells in the blood stream. Detecting minute amounts of cancer cells may indicate the disease is spreading to other parts of the body. They want the test to help dictate the treatment regimen suited for particular types of tumors and malignancies.

"This is like a liquid biopsy," said Dr. Daniel Haber, a co-inventor of the new test and chief of the Massachusetts General Hospital cancer center, explaining how the test can be much more comfortable for patients while being useful for oncologists to monitor the progress of cancer. The cancer screening blood test promises to at least become an adjunct to conventional screening methods such as colonoscopies, mammograms, biopsies and other body scans.

One of the centers that will conduct the pilot testing is the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Its chief, Dr. Mark Kris, said: "There's a lot of potential here, and that's why there's a lot of excitement."

The promising blood test is capable of identifying one cancer cell among a billion normal cells, according to Harvard bioengineer and test designer Mehmet Toner. It works by trapping tumor cells to antibodies coated in tiny posts in a slide.

Posted by George Daniels on Monday January 03 2011, 2:29 AM EDT. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0