A new ultra-sensitive blood test which can detect tiny fragments of tumour DNA could be “revolutionary” for NHS patients.
Thousands of patients will be offered liquid biopsies, which can help fast-track lung cancer patients to receive targeted treatments.
Tissue biopsies are used to confirm a diagnosis of lung cancer and samples can be sent for genomic testing. But liquid biopsies allow for results much faster, and can show patients if they have mutations.
Rebeca Proctor, 41, was treated a suspected chest infection last December. After she began coughing up blood, she was diagnosed with stage four cancer – which she called a “punch to the gut”.
“I was scared – I just thought about my children, and if I would get to see my little girl start nursery, and how I would explain my diagnosis to my children – it was just heartbreaking to think about,” the mother of four from Carlisle said.
A liquid biopsy showed she had an ALK genetic mutation of her non-small-cell lung cancer. A tissue biopsy took ten days longer to confirm the same result, but in the meantime she could begin a targeted treatment.
New medication has “given me my life back”, she says.
“I’m taking it day-by-day and for now the treatment is doing what it’s meant to be doing and shrinking the tumour, and I’ve got my energy back,” she said.
“I know I’m not going to be cured but I’ve come to terms with my diagnosis and the pills are stopping my cancer cells from spreading – we’ll keep fighting this and dealing with what’s been thrown at us.”
Breast and lung cancers are two of the most common in England – around 90,000 people are diagnosed with one of them each year.
Potential to ‘scan’ the body in a single blood test
NHS England will become the first health service in the world to roll-out a “blood-test first” approach to diagnosing lung cancer, and it follows a successful pilot of the testing last year.
Up to 15,000 patients could benefit.
The NHS has also said it is expanding testing in advanced breast cancer, with several genetic variations now being screened for.
It could save the health service up to £11m per year in lung cancer care.
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Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said it would enable patients to receive “more targeted and kinder care”, as it would enable some to avoid more intensive treatments – such as chemotherapy – in place of a more targeted approach.
“Liquid biopsies are leading us into a new era of personalised cancer care and it’s fantastic that we are now able to expand the use of this revolutionary test on the NHS to help tailor treatment for thousands of patients across the country,” he said.
Liquid biopsies, he added, have the potential to “scan” the body in a single blood test.
Professor Dame Sue Hill, Chief Scientific Officer for England, said: “This testing is transforming care and helping clinicians match patients earlier especially when cancer tissue may not be available with potentially life-extending targeted therapies rapidly and with greater precision.”
The health secretary called it an “incredibly exciting new test” that could save countless lives.
“It is just the latest example of this government combining the compassionate care of our National Health Service with the ingenuity of Britain’s leading scientific minds to revolutionise cancer care,” Wes Streeting said.
