PHILADELPHIA (June 4, 2018) – A new study from Fox Chase Cancer Center shows that liquid biopsy can be a valuable tool in assessing patients’ progress throughout treatment for colorectal cancer. Researchers found that administering the blood test at intervals to search for circulating tumor cells or DNA in conjunction with current diagnostic tests can provide information that will help physicians adjust treatment decisions. Pooja Ghatalia, MD, a hematology/oncology fellow at Fox Chase, will present the findings as part of the ASCO 2018 annual meeting later this week.
The study followed 33 patients at different time points during treatment for stage IV colorectal cancer. Most of the patients had also undergone tumor biopsy and/or other diagnostic testing, such as CT scans. Comparing the liquid biopsy results with tumor biopsy and other standard techniques, the researchers found that blood testing was useful in detecting mutations, monitoring disease burden, and identifying drug resistance, among other markers.
“Our research shows that liquid biopsy is a valuable tool that physicians may be able to use throughout cancer treatment to track whether and how well a given therapy is working, avoid false interpretations of diagnostic tests, and to guide clinical decision-making,” said Ghatalia.
The full reference and coauthors is: Ghatalia, P., Smith, C., Winer, A., Gou, J., Kiedrowski, L.A., Saltzberg, P.D., Bubes, N., Anari, F.M., Kasireddy, V., Varshavsky, A., Liu. Y., Ross, E.A., and El-Deiry, W.S. Liquid biopsies (LB) across treatment of 29 metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients (pts) reveal driver mutations and tumor evolution with anti-EGFR therapy: Experience in a GI Oncology clinic at Fox Chase Cancer Center. 54th Annual ASCO meeting, Chicago, IL, June 1-5, 2018.