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Liquid Biopsies Show Promise As Cancer Screening Option

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Scientists now have the first solid proof that blood tests called liquid biopsies could help screen people for cancer. Doctors in Hong Kong applied the method to specific head and neck cancer, and saw an increase in early detection and a small uptick in survival.

Liquid biopsies detect DNA that tumors release into the bloodstream. Some of these are currently being used to monitor cancer patients, and many other companies are trying to develop the technology for screening, CBS News reports. If successful, these could become alternatives to colonoscopies, mammograms and other cancer tests.

Dr. Dennis Lo of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and lead author on the study said,

This work is very exciting on the larger scale.

It gives a plan on how to make tests for other types of cancer tumors. “We are brick by brick putting that technology into place.” Lo is well-known for his work in discovering that fetal DNA can be detected in a mother’s blood, which led to leaps in non-invasive testing for pregnancies.

This study on liquid biopsies involved nasopharyngeal cancer, wherein the tumor forms at the top of the throat, behind the nose. The cancer is aggressive, meaning early detection is important, and makes a good test case as screening can be tried out on middle-aged Chinese men, among whom this kind of cancer is common.

The Epstein-Barr virus is also involved in many nasopharyngeal cancer cases, so liquid biopsy tests could look for viral DNA in the blood, rather than the more rare cancer cells.

Some 20,000 men were screened using the process, and viral DNA was discovered in 1,112 of them. Of those, 309 had confirmation tests a month later, and 34 turned out to be positive for cancer after MRIs and endoscopies.

More cases were found at the earliest stage, which is important as early detection means the cancer can be cured with radiation alone. The more advanced stages need chemotherapy as well, and treatment rates are lower.

Screening also appeared to improve survival rates without the disease worsening at 97% for those who have had the cancer for three years. Only one person who tested negative during screening developed the cancer within a year.

The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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