癌症诊断和治疗的未来：液体活组织检查可以揭示癌症和更多

一些癌症的秘密在患者的血液中隐藏。揭开它们涉及只有简单的血液绘制。

MD安德森is taking innovative steps to maximize the potential of so-called liquid biopsies for the benefit of our patients.

“虽然用于广泛临床用途的液体活检仍处于初期阶段，但它们有可能彻底改变癌症护理，”斯坦汉密尔顿，M.D.，司头，病理和实验室医学。

“MD安德森is pushing this field forward in many ways. It’s an incredibly exciting time.”

血液对组织活组织检查

活组织检查对于癌症的诊断和治疗至关重要。过去，唯一的选择是从肿瘤中收集组织以进行检查。今天，医生可以从血管中学习有关某些癌症的重要信息。对于患者而言，优选快速针棒对更令人侵袭的程序，这取决于肿瘤的大小和位置。

那么为什么组织活检了？

“血液现在只能告诉我们，所以组织活检仍然是最好的，有时只能选择提供我们所需要的答案，”汉密尔顿说。“但我相信我们能够更多地使用液体活检，因为发现继续下去。”

Unlocking answers

因为癌症细胞可以释放遗传物质into the bloodstream, blood can help us learn earlier if there’s cancer in the body, before it causes symptoms or grows enough to be seen through imaging. This is currently most helpful to monitor if cancer has returned after treatment.

Blood also can reveal genetic information about the cancer that’s present. Liquid biopsies scan for particular genetic alterations, aiding in prognosis and suggesting appropriate treatment, including targeted therapies.

One example is a single-gene test that was developed here based on work byGilbert Cote, Ph.D., professor of Endocrine Neoplasia and Hormonal Diseases, to look for a specific genetic mutation called RET p.M918T.

It’s a prognostic test for physicians treatingmedullary thyroid cancer。他们了解到高水平的患者在一个治疗路径和低水平的那些患者中做得更好，或者在另一条治疗路径上更好地做得更好。

“The test is helping me guide patients to the most effective treatment,” saysNaifa Busaidy，M.D.，内分泌肿瘤和荷尔蒙疾病副教授。

The speed of the results is another benefit.

“在我们的分子诊断实验室中，在此处进行这种单一基因测试，使我成为两三天，而不是几周后，”巴士说说。

MD安德森has launched other single-gene tests this year. One scans for a mutation related to黑色瘤和colorectal cancer表明存在的癌症量并监测患者对治疗的反应。与之相关的突变的另一个测试扫描lung cancerto see if the cancer fails to respond to treatment.

Working together

也是今年，MD安德森formed a partnership with Guardant Health加速综合液体活组织检查癌症治疗的护理标准。

监护人健康将有所帮助MD安德森build multiple on-site liquid biopsy centers for both standard of care testing and the pursuit of new discoveries through research testing.

“Unlike the single-gene tests we developed this year, Guardant offers broad testing and is known for the number of genes it screens, currently 73. The sensitivity of its test detects mutations even when there isn’t much cancer DNA present in the blood,” Hamilton says. “We’ll be creating a unique,MD安德森-only test to include actionable mutations found in our patient population, especially those in our many临床试验。”

伙伴关系的另一个好处是访问监狱主特的生物信息管道，说Raja Luthra，博士。是，我们的分子诊断实验室造血学教授，将进行临床测试。

Not only will our patients get tested for mutations and chromosomal rearrangements in a tailored panel of tests, they will benefit from the efficiencies of on-site testing.

MD安德森和监护人还将共同努力加速发现进一步推进使用液体活检。

“这是患有固体肿瘤患者的范式转变，”Luthra说。“这是未来，并且是对患者如此阳性的一部分是非常令人满意和令人兴奋的。”

这个故事的更长版本最初出现在使者中，MD安德森’s员工，志愿者，退休人员及其家庭的季刊。

Request an appointment atMD安德森线上或通过拨打1-877-632-6789。