Blood tests could save cancer patients from chemo

SHAFAQNA Türkiye – A large bowel cancer study in the UK is looking into whether tests can show whether surgery has been completely removed.

Doctors say that half of patients with stage 3 bowel cancer can be treated with surgery, so no chemotherapy is needed. Approximately 1600 patients with bowel cancer were included in the study in the UK.

ORAL TABLET FOR CHEMOTHERAPY INSTEAD OF CHEMOTHERAPY

Ben Cook, owner of a barbershop on King’s Road in Chelsea, London, as well as a fashion stylist, was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in early March last year. Cooke was successfully treated with surgery.

According to BBC News, the gold standard of treatment is intravenous chemotherapy to remove remaining tumor cells and reduce the risk of cancer coming back. However, oxaliplatin chemotherapy used for bowel cancer can cause painful tingling and numbness in the hands and feet, which is called peripheral neuropathy. This nerve damage can be long term. Cook, too, was worried that it might affect his ability to do what he loves, saying, “I couldn’t handle it. I have to work, this is my therapy,” he said.

The 52-year-old patient participated in a study at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London that assessed whether a blood test could indicate whether chemotherapy was really needed.

She avoided intravenous chemotherapy because the test result showed that she no longer had cancer. Instead, he took oral chemotherapy pills twice a day, like everyone else in the study. It had very few side effects and kept it going.

“The lack of tingling in my hands was a real blessing,” Cook said.

IT MAY AFFECT THE TREATMENT OF THOUSANDS OF BOTTOM CANCER PATIENTS EACH YEAR

Blood tests work by looking for microscopic traces of cancer, called circulating tumor DNA in the bloodstream. The presence of these markers indicates whether the patient was treated surgically. Such small details are not visible on the scan.

The litigation’s principal investigator, Dr. Naurin Starling, said the outcome could affect the annual treatment of thousands of bowel cancer patients.

“Half of patients with stage 3 bowel cancer are only treated with surgery, so we over-treat most patients. The hope is that this particular technology could save many cancer patients from unnecessary chemotherapy. It’s good for the patient, good for healthcare,” he said.