Conventional Biopsy May Soon Be a Thing of the Past; New Blood Test or 'Liquid Biopsy' to Simplify Rountine Tests

A conventional biopsy is a term dreaded by patients affected by malignancy. The very thought of the process involved in slicing through one's tumor is very disturbing, let alone going through the surgery just to get the malignancy ascertained - leave alone the actual treatment. However, researches have taken yet another step up the evolutionary ladder in science by trying to perfect "Liquid Biopsy".

The use of blood for diagnosis of several conditions has been prevalent. With this liquid biopsy, mankind has potentially rid itself of an inconvenient procedure for this diagnosis. This blood test, much like others, looks to locate traces of DNA that contains malignant cells in the blood stream. The entire process would be seen as a relief for the patients, as the diagnosis is as simple as any other blood test.

This innovation not only helps in a simplified method of diagnosis, but it also plays a much greater role in the actual treatment.  Over the course of treatment, the Liquid Biopsy can be conducted at regular intervals to study the effectiveness of the treatment as these cells tend to be resilient when the treatment is administered. The actual efficacy of the treatment can be measured & monitored constantly as highlighted by Dr. Jose Baselga, physician in chief & CMO at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center .

Baselga is buoyed with this innovation and feels that could forever change the course of investigation & treatment of Cancer.

However, as ever with any technological advances prior to this, the medical community would need far great proof on the actual efficiency of the method. As of now, studies have been conducted only on certain types of cancer, that too at a very small scale. But reports have emerged that these results are promising.

The Lancet Oncology contained details of a study conducted by the National Cancer Institute which involved 126 patients with lymphoma. The study was able to highlight the accuracy of diagnosis & also identify patients on whom were not responding to treatment.

Dr. David Hyman, an oncologist at Sloan Kettering likened this to a Bar Code mechanism that could identify different forms of malignancy.