August 4, 2016

liquid biopsies for cancer

To give cancer patients the best treatment, doctors need important information about the genetic and molecular make-up of their cancer. Tissue biopsies are often used but they do not always give a comprehensive view of the cancer, they can be invasive, and it may not be possible to repeat them very often.

With major changes in the ease and cost of DNA sequencing, scientists are now working on the possibility of ‘fishing’ out genetic material from tumours via the blood in order to get information about the make-up of the patient’s cancer. The aim is for these ‘liquid biopsies’ to give a comprehensive view of the way a cancer progresses, which can help identify which treatments to give, and may spot when the cancer is becoming resistant to its current treatment. The tests can also give valuable information to cancer researchers that could develop treatments in the future. Already some UK patients on clinical trials are being given these liquid biopsies as part of their treatment.

Journalists came to the SMC to hear from scientists researching this developing area of cancer science address questions such as:

• how does the liquid biopsy work, and is it suitable for all types of cancer?
• what information can liquid biopsies give that a tissue biopsy cannot, and vice versa?
• how are liquid biopsies performed?
• how and when could this technology translate to the clinic?
• which clinical trials and research projects are currently using this technology?
• how may the field develop in future?
• what does the latest research tell us about the potential of liquid biopsies?

Speakers:

Prof. Johann de Bono, Regius Professor of Cancer Research at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Gerhardt Attard, Clinician Scientist at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Nick Turner, Team Leader in Molecular Oncology at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Suzanne Carreira, Senior Scientific Officer in the Cancer Biomarkers Group at the Institute of Cancer Research, London