The results, which oncologists described as promising, were published in the journalCurrently, many patients with surgically removable colon cancer are automatically given additional chemotherapy, but doctors can't perfectly predict who will or will not benefit from this.
In the recently published study, researchers looked for the presence of this genetic material in more than 1,000 patients who had undergone surgery to remove stage II, III, and IV colon cancer. A positive test suggests there are still residual cancer cells in the body. This study showed that patients with positive tests likely need additional chemotherapy, whereas those with negative tests might be able to safely skip the taxing and toxic treatment.
"What the study showed was that the people who had the liquid biopsy, or ctDNA, being positive after surgery, had an extremely, extremely high chance of recurrence...10 times higher risk compared to people who were ctDNA negative," said Dr. Suneel Kamath, a gastrointestinal oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic, who was also not involved with the study. "What's interesting too was that was by far the strongest factor.
Still, experts said, more research is needed before this test becomes a standard part of medical care.
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