SYDNEY, Oct. 17, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – A simple new blood test being trialled
across 40 hospitals in Australia and New Zealand could spare cancer patients
from having to undergo unnecessary chemotherapy.
Developed by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI)
in Melbourne, the test is able to determine if fragments of tumour DNA are
present in a patient’s blood after they’ve had tumours surgically removed.
At present, there is no clear way to tell if a tumour has been entirely
removed or not, so patients after surgery are given chemotherapy treatment a
precautionary measure.
“While chemotherapy is an essential, life-saving treatment, we don’t want
patients receiving it if they don’t need it. We want to help these patients
avoid serious and ongoing side-effects associated with chemotherapy,” trial
lead Associate Professor Jeanne Tie, who is a clinician scientist at the
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute said in a statement on Wednesday.
But as well as sparing patients from a wide range of harmful side effects
which include pain, fatigue, nausea, digestive issues, bleeding problems,
fertility issues, increased susceptibility to infection, heart, lung, nerve
and memory problems, the test will may also be able to detect if a patient
requires an increased dose of chemotherapy.
“We would like to be able to tell some patients that they can safely avoid
chemotherapy because their cancer is unlikely to recur,” Tie said.
“But for patients who are at a high risk of recurrence, we want to be able
to give them a more intensive dose of chemotherapy than those with a lower
risk of recurrence.” Initially focused on early stage bowel cancer patients
in 2015, the success of the trial saw the test then extend to help women with
ovarian cancer in 2017.
Around 400 patients have already taken part in the trial and there are now
plans to expand the program to 2000 before it finishes up in 2021.