A new test, faster than the old one, will determine the chronology of the development of metastases. The goal: to understand how the tumor has spread in the patient’s body thanks to a simple blood test. The work leading to this result was carried out by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States. The study in question was published by the journal of the American Academy of Sciences (Pnas).
“If we succeed in reconstructing the family tree of all the metastases of a patient, we could determine how the different tumors are related to each other and reconstruct the course of the cancer”, Explain Kamila Naxerova, lead author of the study. Knowing how cells have spread throughout the body of patients should allow the development of more effective and better adapted therapies.
A quick and inexpensive method
For the study, 22 people with colon cancer were tested. This analysis made it possible to determine the “genealogical tree” of the primary tumor by ascending through the metastatic cells. The previous technique consisted of a long and difficult genetic analysis of the entire tumor, while researchers in Massachusetts focused on fragments of DNA that were very sensitive to mutations.
“We are now applying this methodology to answer clinically important questions regarding the biology of metastases in a larger number of patients. It is a rapid and inexpensive method that could be applied to many. other tumors “, concludes the scientist.
