Post by ۞Quaalude™۞ on Jan 3, 2011 19:10:22 GMT -5
new test could detect a single cancer cell in your blood and help doctors decide how to treat you. Now Austin patients and physicians are weighing in on what promises to be groundbreaking technology.
Debra Downey exercises year round. She survived breast cancer in 2008 and is tirelessly training to compete in ten triathlons this year.
She caught her cancer early and is now hoping a new blood test will help others do the same.
“I've met many women with breast cancer who have had late detection and survivability is not as good. The thing you always hear them say is, 'I wish I knew earlier,'” said Downey.
Normally doctors rely on mammograms or biopsies for signs of cancer. Boston researchers have developed a highly sensitive blood test, one they hope one day will be commonly used to detect and analyze a single cancer cell among a billion healthy cells.
Doctor John Sandbach at Texas Oncology in Austin says if the blood test works, it could also help determine if chemotherapy is needed after surgery.
“This is a technology that will take five to 10 years to truly develop and take out to the clinical scene,” said Dr. Sandbach.
The Boston researchers who invented the test are working with Johnson and Johnson. They plan to launch trials at four major cancer centers this year.
“It’s going to take many hundreds of patients participating in large research studies to prove whether this technology is helpful or not,” said Sandbach.
Cancer survivors are hoping the new technology can save lives.
“Until something hurts, or something is lumpy, or something is not working right, then it could be very late, so it would be much better to catch it early,” said Downey QC
www.kvue.com/news/Blood-test-promises-better-cancer-detection-treatment-112828884.html
Debra Downey exercises year round. She survived breast cancer in 2008 and is tirelessly training to compete in ten triathlons this year.
She caught her cancer early and is now hoping a new blood test will help others do the same.
“I've met many women with breast cancer who have had late detection and survivability is not as good. The thing you always hear them say is, 'I wish I knew earlier,'” said Downey.
Normally doctors rely on mammograms or biopsies for signs of cancer. Boston researchers have developed a highly sensitive blood test, one they hope one day will be commonly used to detect and analyze a single cancer cell among a billion healthy cells.
Doctor John Sandbach at Texas Oncology in Austin says if the blood test works, it could also help determine if chemotherapy is needed after surgery.
“This is a technology that will take five to 10 years to truly develop and take out to the clinical scene,” said Dr. Sandbach.
The Boston researchers who invented the test are working with Johnson and Johnson. They plan to launch trials at four major cancer centers this year.
“It’s going to take many hundreds of patients participating in large research studies to prove whether this technology is helpful or not,” said Sandbach.
Cancer survivors are hoping the new technology can save lives.
“Until something hurts, or something is lumpy, or something is not working right, then it could be very late, so it would be much better to catch it early,” said Downey QC
www.kvue.com/news/Blood-test-promises-better-cancer-detection-treatment-112828884.html