Novel blood test offers unprecedented insight into a patient's cancer make-up

NewsGuard 100/100 Score

Researchers at the Vancouver Prostate Centre have developed a new blood test that provides unprecedented insight into a patient's cancer make-up, potentially allowing doctors to better select treatment options that will improve patient outcomes.

The technology was outlined in a study published today in Nature.

The first-of-its-kind blood test analyzes the DNA that metastatic cancers shed into the bloodstream, known as circulating tumor DNA or ctDNA. By sequencing the entire genome of this ctDNA, the test reveals characteristics that are unique to each patient's cancer, giving physicians new tools to develop more personalized treatment plans.

"With only a few drops of blood, we can uncover critical information about a person's overall disease and how best to manage their cancer," says Dr. Alexander Wyatt, an assistant professor of urologic sciences at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and research scientist with the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) and BC Cancer. "This test has the potential to help clinicians choose better tailored treatment options and to more efficiently detect treatment resistance, allowing clinicians to adjust clinical care as needed."

For the study, the researchers examined ctDNA samples collected from patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Metastatic cancer -; cancer that has spread to other organs in the body -; is not often curable, and chemotherapy and newer targeted therapies may not work for all patients. Biopsies to help determine the best treatments for this type of cancer are rarely performed due to their invasive nature and the high risk of complications. This is often a major barrier in studying and treating this disease.

The researchers discovered that whole genome sequencing of ctDNA provides a host of information about the different metastases spread throughout the body. Using newly developed computer programs, the researchers were able to pinpoint the unique genetic make-up of various cancer populations in the body to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the disease.

"Metastatic cancers are complex and our understanding of them has been limited," says Dr. Wyatt. "Whereas traditional biopsies only provide a small snapshot of the disease, this new test is able to paint a more complete picture of metastases throughout the body, all from a simple and easy to perform blood test."

The researchers say the information can also be used to help predict which treatments will be effective or ineffective in each patient.

"Every cancer is unique and every patient responds differently to treatment," says Dr. Wyatt. "This new generation of ctDNA tests can help clinicians choose the treatment option that is most likely to benefit a patient."

New insights into treatment resistance

While the number of cancer treatment options has expanded in recent years, a common problem is that eventually those treatments stop working. Drug resistance can develop over time as cancer cells accumulate molecular changes that make them less sensitive to a particular drug or treatment.

The study from Dr. Wyatt and his team sheds new light on how this resistance develops. By collecting multiple ctDNA samples over time, they were able to learn how cancer evolves in response to treatment. The findings revealed new genetic mechanisms of resistance to the most common drugs for treating metastatic prostate cancer and more broadly demonstrates how ctDNA profiling can be used to understand treatment resistance across other types of cancers.

"This technology can be applied across other types of cancer to understand how those tumours metastasize and how they eventually evade treatment," says Dr. Wyatt. "It will also help us design the next generation of cancer therapies that more effectively target resistant disease."

The researchers say that this minimally-invasive, relatively inexpensive and highly-scalable technology is now being deployed across large clinical trials. This includes leading-edge precision oncology clinical trials in Canadian cancer patients being conducted at BC Cancer and the Vancouver Prostate Centre.

Source:
Journal reference:

Herberts, C., et al. (2022) Deep whole-genome ctDNA chronology of treatment-resistant prostate cancer. Nature. doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04975-9.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
New cancer projections show increased prostate cases by 25% in 2050, despite prevention efforts