Scientists have developed a three- in-one blood test that can predict which prostate cancer patients are likely to benefit from a treatment and monitor the disease for drug resistance, an advance that may pave the way for more personalised precision therapies. The test could transform treatment of advanced prostate cancer through use of precision drugs designed to target mutations in the genes linked to cancer.
By testing cancer DNA in the bloodstream, researchers from Institute of Cancer Research in the UK found they could pick out which men with advanced prostate cancer were likely to benefit from treatment with new drugs called PARP inhibitors.
They also used the test to analyse DNA in the blood after treatment had started, so people who were not responding could be identified and switched to alternative therapy in as little as four to eight weeks.
The test could also be used to monitor a patient’s blood throughout treatment, quickly picking up signs that the cancer was evolving genetically and might be becoming resistant to drugs.