Blood test could lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer: Study

According to an article published in The Lancet Oncology, scientists have discovered that a simple blood test could lead to better diagnosis and treatment for early-stage breast cancer patients. The study, led by Professor Anthony Lucci from the Department of Surgical Oncology, University of Texas, US, builds on earlier work which identified tumour cells circulating in the blood of patients suffering from spreading (metastatic) breast cancer.

Professor Lucci and colleagues investigated whether circulating tumour cells (CTCs) could be found in the blood of patients at an earlier stage of disease, where the cancer has not spread beyond its original location (non-metastatic). They also looked at how the presence of CTCs affected survival rates and progression of the disease.

Looking at 302 patients with operable breast cancer, the researchers identified CTCs in the blood of 24 per cent of the study group. They found that the presence of CTCs accurately predicted both progression-free survival and overall survival, with 15 per cent of the patients who tested positive for CTCs relapsing, and 10 per cent dying during the study period (February 2005 to December 2010), as compared to just three per cent and two per cent, respectively, of patients who did not test positive for CTCs. For patients with a higher concentration of CTCs (three or more per 7.5ml of blood), the correlation with survival and progression rates was even more dramatic, with 31 per cent of these patients dying or relapsing during the study period.

The findings raise hope that in future, blood tests could be used to provide improved diagnosis and treatment for early-stage breast cancer patients. Currently, diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer often relies on lymph-node removal, which can have unpleasant side-effects. CTC analysis does not appear in current guidelines for the assessment of cancer patients.

“These studies identified that both progression-free and overall survival were worse in patients with one or more circulating tumour cells. The growing body of published work, including our study, suggests that assessment of circulating tumour cells might provide important prognostic information in these patients. If the presence of circulating tumour cells were to contribute independently to the currently available prognostic factors, this information might be useful in disease staging and in identifying patients who might benefit from additional adjuvant therapies,” according to Lucci.

EP News Bureau — Mumbai