Study Reveals New Blood Test Enhances Cancer Treatments

Zurich: Early detection significantly boosts the chances of successful cancer treatment, applicable to nearly all cancer types. Effective patient care also involves evaluating the pros and cons of each therapy individually and consistently monitoring treatment outcomes. Oncologists use various methods to achieve this, such as imaging equipment and invasive procedures like punctures, tissue samples, and endoscopies.

Researchers at the University of Zurich (UZH) and the University Hospital Zurich (USZ) have recently advanced a less invasive technique known as liquid biopsy. This method examines blood samples instead of organs or tissues by sequencing and analyzing DNA fragments circulating in the patient’s blood. “Our method can be used in the future for risk assessments, treatment monitoring during follow-up care, and early detection of cancer recurrence, in principle for all types of tumors,” said Zsolt Balazs, co-first author of the study at the UZH Department of Quantitative Biomedicine.

Since this technique relies on blood samples, it is less invasive than traditional tissue biopsies. Additionally, collecting blood samples is quicker and more convenient in daily hospital operations, reducing the need for multiple diagnostic appointments and sparing patients long waits.

The new liquid biopsy method helps oncologists more accurately determine tumor activity and spread, allowing them to develop personalized therapies for patients. “We can see earlier and more quickly how much the cancer has spread in the body and how well a patient is responding to a specific treatment, or whether there will be a relapse,” Balazs added.

In the lab, researchers analyzed the gene fragments in the blood for DNA changes specific to the type of cancer. They examined alterations in the number and length distribution of these fragments. “The liquid biopsy technique enables us to discriminate between biologically less and more aggressive metastatic cancer disease - perhaps even earlier than using imaging technology,” said co-first author Panagiotis Balermpas, a professor at the Department of Radiation Oncology at USZ.

The researchers tested their method on patients undergoing radiotherapy, including several with HPV-positive cancers. HPV, or human papillomavirus, can also cause cancer. By measuring the number of HPV DNA fragments in the blood, researchers could track tumor development. For head and neck cancer, they found that a higher concentration of HPV DNA might indicate early cancer recurrence, which could be treated with immunotherapy.

“The more a tumor metastasizes, the poorer the patient’s quality of life. This also applies to local recurrences that aren’t detected early. It is key that we individualize treatment as far as possible, considering the potential benefits of all therapies and their impact on the patient’s quality of life,” concluded Balermpas, who oversaw the treatment of patients with head and neck tumors in the study. (ANI)