Cancer patients who have exhausted all proven treatments could be offered a blood test to match them with experimental drugs

Cancer patients who have exhausted all available treatments may be matched to experimental drugs via a blood test.

A study found analysing a 'small volume' of a patient's blood for 'faulty DNA' allowed doctors to gather up-to-date genetic information about their tumour. 

Medics can use this 'DNA data' to enroll patients onto a clinical trial testing a drug that specifically combats their tumour. 

In a trial of 11 patients, four of them saw their masses shrink as a result.

Existing trial enrollment procedures require a cancer sufferer to undergo an invasive tumour biopsy, which is soon 'out-of-date' due to the masses constantly evolving.

Researchers hope the simpler blood test will one day be available on the NHS and will allow doctors to quickly refer patients onto suitable trials.

The research was carried out by the Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Manchester Institute and led by Dr Matthew Krebs, a clinical senior lecturer in experimental cancer medicine and honorary consultant in medical oncology.

'Historically, patients who have exhausted other options but are still reasonably well might access a clinical trial based on their cancer type,' Dr Krebs said.

'But without that new therapy being targeted to their tumour's particular genetic profile. Now, that paradigm is shifting toward personalised medicine. 

'By understanding the genetic faults underpinning a patient's cancer from a blood test, as demonstrated in this study, this raises the hope of matching more patients to a specific targeted clinical trial treatment with better chance of benefit.'  

The researchers analysed 100 patients battling various types of cancer, including breast, bowel, prostate, lung and skin, as reported in the journal Nature Medicine. 

Of the participants, 70 were found to have at least one DNA mutation, of which 41 could be targeted by personalised drugs, The Times reported.

And of these 41 patients, 11 could be matched quickly to a clinical trial. 

Most impressively, four of these 11 patients saw their tumour shrink after being enrolled in a trial as a result of the blood analysis.

This is compared to none of the participants who were given non-targeted cancer therapy.  

As well as blood samples being less invasive than biopsies, they can also be taken throughout a patient's treatment plan, which provides up-to-date genetic information on the mass. 

Patients who have had their tumours biopsied months or even years ago may have out-of-date results. This is important given that this information determines how an individual is treated. 

The blood samples cost £1,600 and took a month to analyse, however, the researchers are optimistic this can be reduced to two weeks.  

A second experiment will determine whether those who were matched to personalised treatments live longer.

Professor Caroline Dive, deputy director of the CRUK Manchester Institute, added: 'Now we have demonstrated the feasibility of matching clinical trials for patients who have not responded to previous treatments by analysing the tumour DNA in their blood, we are working to improve our blood testing approach.

'We are making the test more sensitive and adding new elements to it in order to understand more about a patient's disease. 

'We are also taking several blood samples over time to see if a faulty gene(s) is disappearing with treatment, or if there is emergence of a new genetic fault that could lead to treatment resistance. 

'This would allow us to stop a failing treatment and consider new options to stay a step ahead of the disease.'

Although promising, the researchers stress not every patient will have identifiable or treatable faulty genes in their blood. 

Source: dailymail.co.uk

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