10x more sensitivity! The University of Cambridge has developed a new method of "blood test cancer".

A team led by the University of Cambridge has shown a new method of liquid biopsy that can help patients monitor the recurrence of the disease by analyzing the blood of cancer patients to find clues to the tumorThe researchers point out that the sensitivity of the new method can be increased by an order of magnitude compared to existing technologiessurgically removed tumors is a common cancer treatmentHowever, even if the tumor is removed, cancer cells may still remain in the body and may recurCurrently, patients undergo regular check-ups, scans and blood tests to allow doctors to monitor their condition and decide whether further treatment is neededPrevious studies have shown that in the blood of cancer patients, DNA released by tumor cells, known to scientists as circulating tumor DNA, can be foundCtDNA has a variety of mutations associated with cancer, unlike other DNA molecules that can be found in the blood, so it theoretically provides a way to monitor cancer through blood testsThe idea of this liquid biopsy has also received a lot of attention in recent yearsHowever, for patients with early cancer or who have had their tumorremoved, the concentration of DNA derived from the tumor in the blood is very low, and it is not an exaggeration to detect ctDNA, which is described as a "needle in a haystack", making it challenging to test using the methods used in current clinical testingIn summary, this new liquid biopsy method, combined with tumor sequencing, is very sensitive to the detection of ctDNA with individualized blood testsThe researchers hope the new method will help doctors monitor very small tumors and plan treatments for patients to prevent cancer recurrenceTo improve the sensitivity of the detection, the scientists who developed the new technology came up with a strategy: to make more "needles" that can be fished in the seaA tumor contains many different mutations that cause cancer formation, and although some mutations are common in some cancer types, the overall mutation of the tumor varies from person to personBased on this feature, the researchers developed a computational method that analyzes the genetic makeup of individual tumors, targets a group of mutations and provides many search targets for "blood test cancer."In their paper, the researchers note that existing liquid biopsies can search for 10 to 20 mutations in blood samples, up to 100, and now use this individualsequencing method to identify hundreds of mutations, with sensitivity to detect one or more of the ctDNA from 1 million DNA fragments, about 10 times more sensitive than previous methodsteam tested the method with blood samples from more than 100 cancer patientsThese patients have different types of cancers, such as melanoma, lung cancer, kidney cancer, glioma and breast cancer, both early and advancedThe experimental results verify the high sensitivity of this detection methodIn patients with brain or kidney tumors, because it is not clear why, the tumor appears to release less ctDNA into the blood than other types of cancer, but the new method can still detect low levels of ctDNAOriginal title: 10x increase in sensitivity! The University of Cambridge has developed a new method of "blood test cancer" to help monitor cancer recurrence.