Diagnosing cancer is not only time-consuming and nerve-racking, but it's also very challenging. There's no definite standard on how to do it, so it differs from one cancer to another. But with a liquid biopsy, the process may be way easier.
Many scientists today are currently working on developing a more economical, efficient, and quick method of determining whether the cells are cancerous or not. As it turns out, the technique is not uncommon: a blood test.
A liquid biopsy refers to the process of diagnosing or ruling out cancer by simply studying the DNA markers found in a blood sample. The method of obtaining such sample is also no different from the ones you're used to. Doctors can get blood either through a prick of a finger or from a large vein on the arm.
The health community has been setting such high hopes on this technique for many reasons. First, it speeds up the diagnostic process. In many cancers, time is always of the essence. Studying blood samples for cancer may take only hours instead of days or weeks. This also lessens the discomfort that often comes with current procedures such as imaging scans and invasive probing methods like colonoscopy.
The blood samples can also be used to assess promptly the effectiveness of a cancer treatment. Not all types of cancers respond to chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
So far, the liquid biopsy has been tested to small groups of patients such as 126 of those with lymphoma. Based on their analysis, this biopsy can predict the cancer recurrence 3 months earlier than CT scans.
It should be noted, however, that it may take a long time before liquid biopsy will be used in the health care setting, if it reaches such point. Most of the tests are limited, covering only lung, colon, and blood.