'helps target treatment' Prostate cancer blood test

 'helps target treatment' Prostate cancer blood test

Prostate cancer Blood test,

 'helps target treatment' Prostate cancer blood test

The test detects the DNA of a cancer of the blood, helping doctors to check if the drugs work precisely.

Scientists have developed a blood test that could pick out which men with advanced prostate cancer would benefit from a new drug treatment.

Cancer Research UK said the test could "dramatically improve survival. "

But the large studies involving more men needed to confirm occur if doctors could count on the test, the body said.

Blood samples from 49 men with advanced prostate cancer were collected by researchers in the Phase II clinical trial of a drug called olaparib.

This type of drug is the precision that the future of cancer medicine, but because it is a targeted therapy, the drug does not work for everyone.

Researchers at the Institute for Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said the test could help better target treatment and reduce side effects.

They used to identify men who did not respond to treatment within four to eight weeks and also to gather signs that the cancer has been evolving and becoming resistant to drugs.

"Major Impact"

Professor Johann de Bono, a medical consultant oncologist at both organizations, said: "From these results, we were able to develop a powerful, three-in-one test that could be used in the future to help doctors Selection check whether the work and long-term cancer monitoring ".

"Not only could the test have a significant impact on the management of prostate cancer, but could also be adapted to open the possibility of precision medicine to patients with other cancers. "

Dr Aine McCarthy, Head of Scientific Information at Cancer Research UK, said the blood test was an "exciting" development.

"The test has the potential to dramatically improve the survival of the disease, ensuring that patients receive appropriate treatment for them at the right time and are not given any more treatment works," he said.

"Other studies of a larger group of men confirm that doctors should use this test when treating patients with advanced prostate cancer. "

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men.

More than 46,000 men are diagnosed with the disease each year in the UK.

Dr. Matthew Hobbs of prostate cancer in the UK said: "The results of this study and others like it are essential because they give an important understanding of the factors behind some prostate cancer , Or make them vulnerable to specific treatments.