Screening CONTINUED • page 28
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ently healthy people for early signs of cancer, before symptoms arise. “We still need to study this prospectively in people who aren’t known to have cancer,� Lennon said. The findings are published in the Jan. 19 issue of Science. They’re based on 1,005 patients who had any of eight cancers: breast, colon, lung, ovarian, pancreatic, stomach, liver or esophageal. Most had stage 2 or 3 cancer, which generally means the tumor is growing and may be spreading into nearby tissue. Twenty percent
Will this eventually impact patients’ care? I think it will. This is a first step, but it’s an important one. dR. anne MaRie lennon
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director of the Multidisciplinary Pancreatic Cyst Clinic at Johns Hopkins University
“Just because we’re able to detect a protein, had smaller, stage 1 tumors. Overall, the blood test typically detected 70 that doesn’t mean we’ll save everyone’s life,� he percent of cases, though the accuracy varied noted. Still, he said he’s “hopeful� that this or similar depending on the cancer. It spotted only 33 percent of breast cancers, but caught 98 percent of tests will eventually offer a way to catch particuovarian cancers — a particularly lethal disease. larly deadly cancers, such as ovarian and panAnd it was better at detecting stage 2 or 3 can- creatic tumors, earlier. The study was funded by grants from foundacers, versus stage 1, the investigators found. The researchers also tested blood samples tions and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. from 812 healthy people, to see how often the Lennon and several co-researchers are inventest gave “false-positive� results. That happened tors on patents or patent applications covering technology used in the study. less than 1 percent of the time. That’s promising, Lennon said, because for any test to be useful for screening, its false-pos- Amy Norton is a HealthDay reporter. itive rate has to be low. Copyright Š 2018 HealthDay. “This is an important study. It’s elegant science,� said Lichtenfeld. “We’re moving farther All rights reserved. down the path toward using [a test like this] for screening. But there’s a long way to go.� NOTE: Although every effort is made to assure your ad is free of mistakes in spelling and content it is ultimately up to thethe customer to make the final proof. As for cost, the researchers estimate the blood LeArn MOre: u.S. national Cancer test could run less than $500 — comparable to institute has more on liquid biopsies at The first two faxed changes will be made at no cost to the advertiser, subsequent changes will be billed at a rate of $75 per faxed alteration. Signed ads are considered approved. a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer, Lenwww.cancer.gov/news-events/cancerPlease check non thisnoted. ad carefully. Mark any changes to your ad. Ultimately, Lichtenfeld said, the big question currents-blog/2017/liquid-biopsy-detectsIf the ad is correct sign and fax to: (301) 949-0065 changes will be: Does this kind of testing save people’s needs treats-cancer. photo: SCienCe RF / Fotolia lives? The Washington Diplomat (301) 933-3552 Approved __________________________________________________ Changes ______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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30 | THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT | FEbrUArY 2018