Well, not quite yet. At least not a general one. But according to a recent press release, pharmaceutical giant Johnson&Johnson is supporting researched geared towards a cancer blood test that would locate a cancer cell among a billion normal ones.  A group of scientist located in Boston will work closely together with J&J to develop the test further to make it hopefully available soon to a broader audience. In addition to that, four of the largest cancer centers in the United States have agreed to conduct experimental studies with the promising blood test for cancer in 2011.  

Is There Finally A Cancer Blood Test?

It is common belief that stray cancer cells are indicative of a tumor that has already spread or is in the process of spreading beyond its primary location. Since decades researchers have looked into ways to develop cancer blood tests that would allow spotting such cells which would revolutionize early cancer detection and have a significant impact on the care of many cancers including lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer. In a first phase the test could help oncologists to determine what kind of treatments would be most effective for a patient and whether or not they are working satisfyingly.  Another major improvement would be the fact that this blood test cancer method could make many biopsies obsolete. One of the inventors of this test, the chief of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Daniel Haber compared this new method to a "liquid biopsy". A traditional biopsy is usually associated with a large degree of discomfort for the patient and also bears a risk that cancer cells might release from the tumor as it is being punctuated. 

Moreover, the other conventional cancer testing methods including colonoscopies, mammograms, CAT-Scans, etc. have never been ideal diagnostic tools - that's why the hopes are high that this new cancer blood test could truly take early detection to the next level. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City is one of the institutions where studies will be conducted to explore further the potential of the new methods. Dr. Mark Kris, lung cancer chief at MSK, said that there is already a lot of excitement due to the promising potential. The problem with traditional diagnostics and treatment is the time that is being lost between treatment and follow-up test. Usually, a patient will undergo radiation or chemotherapy for a certain amount of time without knowing whether or not he is responding to the treatment. This test has the potential to get clarity on this important aspect much sooner, which will save precious time and ultimately give the patient and his doctors many more options.  The only existing blood test for cancer on the market is "CellSearch" which only indicates the cell count, but does not capture a whole cell.

How does this new method work?

The idea is that a cancer patient can be put on a drug and by the next day a blood sample can give clarity as to whether or not the patient responded successfully to it, simply by finding out if there are still circulating tumor cells in the patient's system. The key component of the test is a microchip which - in unsophisticated terms - can be viewed as a high tech mini hair brush. The bristles are coated with antibodies which basically respond to tumor cells. Healthy cells will bounce off the bristles while cancerous cells will stick to it.  According to Mehmet Toner from the Harvard University, the cancer blood test will be capable of finding one cancer cell amongst a billion or more healthy cells. The chip has already been studied preliminarily and the promising results were published by journals like Science Translational Medicine, the New England Journal of Medicine and Nature. On big issue, though, is the cost factor. The microchips used during the development phase are costly and not suitable for mass production. The next step is to develop a cheaper plastic version of the chip and J&J announced this Monday that they will be working on improving the current model. 




Cancer Cell

 
As mentioned earlier, Mass General, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Dana-Farber and Sloan-Kettering will be starting to use the test in 2011. The project is funded through a grant coming from the American Association for Cancer Research who raised the monies via their "Stand Up to Cancer" telethon. 
However, more research is needed to fully understand how to interpret the results of the cancer blood tests most efficiently. Ideally and according to a statement by Dr. Minetta Liu, a breast cancer specialist at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a woman would go for her mammogram and gets a tube of blood drawn, so doctors could use images as well as the blood test to get a better picture of the situation. No doubt this could be a major milestone in the fight against cancer. I don't know how many biopsies my wife had to have, but there were many of them. But most importantly, imagine you could just go to your annual physical and your doctor could just give you a cancer blood test to make sure that there is nothing going on. And if there is, it would be detected super early so treatment could start before the disease even has a chance to fully develop. 

I'll keep my fingers crossed!