Early Blood Test May Identify Survival Rates in Metastatic Prostate Cancer Cases: JAMA
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A blood test, performed when metastatic prostate cancer is first diagnosed, can predict which patients are likely to respond to treatment and survive the longest. It can help providers decide which patients should receive standard treatment versus who might stand to benefit from riskier, more aggressive new drug trials. The research, part of a phase 3 clinical trial funded in part by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health, was just published in JAMA Network Open.
A new study found that measuring circulating tumor cells, rare cancer cells shed from tumors into the blood, is a reliable way to predict later treatment response and survival prospects. circulating tumor cells have been studied in prostate cancer before, but only in its later stages.
The research leveraged CellSearch (Menarini, Inc.), an FDA-cleared liquid biopsy technology at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, to detect and measure circulating tumor cells in blood samples. Patients with more circulating tumor cells had shorter median survival lengths and a greater risk of death during the study period. Those with more circulating tumor cells also had less “progression-free survival,” which refers to the length of time when a patient’s disease is controlled by treatment without getting worse.
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