Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital has signed a business consignment contract with the US company Guardant Health, and has developed 73 cancer comprehensive genetic tests "Guardant 360" using blood samples of cancer patients. The doctor-initiated clinical study "PROFILE study" including this was started, and on August 2017, 8, the first test in Japan was conducted.
The mainstream of conventional cancer genome tests is to collect cancer cells from patients and perform tests, but in the comprehensive cancer genetic test conducted this time, cancer genome mutations are examined from blood samples from patients. be able to.By analyzing "free DNA" in the blood (DNA derived from dead cancer cells excreted in the bloodstream), cancer genomic testing is possible.Taking a sample from blood is less invasive than a biopsy that takes tissue, and significantly reduces or shortens the pain of collecting cancer cells and the time it takes to collect the sample.
This test is also called liquid biopsy (a biopsy with blood).At this time, it is considered to be a complementary role and not a replacement for genetic analysis by tissue sampling, but the US non-small cell lung cancer NCCN guidelines make repeated biopsies from tissue difficult. In some cases, expectations for its use in other cancers are rising, especially in the United States, such as guidelines for considering liquid biopsy.
The results of this test are expected to be delivered to the attending physician within two weeks of the test.
