The 10 Most Innovative Digital Healthcare Solution Providers 2018

Inventive Diagnostic Tool
Although tissue biopsy is considered a potent technique, the
patient faces severe clinical complications during sampling.
Also in case of terminal cancer patients, it is very difficult
to obtain tissue samples. Due to this, it has become the need
of the hour to look for new biomarkers that are highly
sensitive and specific to tumor diagnosis. This will help in
monitoring tumor progression.
Recently, researchers have proposed a new technique which
involves only a blood test, known as Liquid Biopsy. It is
gaining ground all over the world and has been referred to
as the potential game changer. Although, professionals
believe it requires a couple of years of development to
become a vital screening tool worldwide. Using this
technology, doctors will be able to screen cancer using only
a small sample of the patients’ blood.
Liquid biopsy would be a huge leap in deterrent cancer
treatment. It will help doctors to provide a personalized and
targeted treatment (aiming only the cancer cells and killing
them). Essentially, liquid biopsy is an analytically sensitive
blood test which can detect a single tumor cell loitering
among a billion normal cells. This process would be carried
out in real time and will transform cancer diagnosis and
control.
Mechanism of Action
This test examines cancer related proteins and DNA that is
available in the blood of the patient before cancer spreads.
It also helps the doctor to narrow down the form of cancer
which is present. The cells of a tumor are continuously
shed, allowing the tumor’s DNA to be released into the
bloodstream; no matter where the tumor is. This tumor
DNA that is found in the bloodstream is termed as ctDNA
(circulating tumor DNA). Liquid biopsies target the ctDNA,
which makes it the most non-invasive technique. This
ctDNA has been used by scientists to monitor and check for
genetic changes that might impact treatment. The protein
markers are used to help determine the site of the tumor, to
provide a specific and correct diagnosis.
Why Choose Liquid Biopsy Over Traditional Diagnosis?
Liquid biopsy being non-invasive makes it feasible for the
doctors to take frequent samples, without causing
discomfort to the patient. It has very few side effects, it is
easy to maneuver, has a high testing speed, which helps
decrease the bias in diagnosis and helps doctors understand
the progression of cancer. This permits it to be done
frequently to observe the treatment’s effect. Combining a
cell-free DNA marker with a known protein marker (for
several common types of cancer) has allowed scientists to
throw some light on where cancer may be found.
C ancer’
s genetics which plays a major role in the
development of the disease can be studied using liquid
biopsy. This will provide new and valuable information
regarding the complex mechanism involved in drug
resistance and progression. Liquid biopsy has a pleasing
future in early diagnosis, cancer drug design, determining
the mechanism of drug resistance, assessment of tumor’
s
grade and stage, arbitrating prognosis and regulating the
treatment plan.
Complications That Need to Be Overcome
There are a few characteristics of the test that have yet to be
addressed further, like the primary or initial stages of tumor
might be small and easily missed. Researchers are trying to
solve the problem of small quantities of ctDNA. Even with
a medium sized tumor, the ctDNA is very small, making it
difficult to detect and diagnose. Also, ctDNA is not the only
DNA that is moving around in the bloodstream; pregnant
women have placental DNA from the baby’s placenta in
their blood which might cause misreading. Patients who
have suffered from a heart attack also have DNA fragments
in their blood. Accurate identification of the ctDNA from
the other DNA is a problem that needs to be addressed to
evade false alarms; telling somebody they have cancer
when they don’t could be disastrous.
Although liquid biopsies provide valuable insights into the
progression of cancer, it does not currently provide any
insights into the origin of cancer. Studies are still being
conducted to refine the technology to throw some light on
the nature of cancer (its mutations), its place of origin and
so on. The cells that have metastasized may gain bonus
genetic characteristics over time and grow individually
away from the primary tumor. Direct analysis of the
metastasized cells is required so that the patient is provided
with specific therapy and side effects can be avoided.
This method would provide the diagnosis of cancer before
the symptoms start showing. Although this is an advantage,
pre-symptom testing could cause a scare, since cancer cells
are produced by the body continuously and they get killed
internally. The tests are expensive. Not all cancers are
aggressive and lethal, some are slowly progressing, and are
not fatal, thus do not require any treatment. The method
should be further developed to differentiate which tumor
can be left alone and which require treatment.
As scientific information advances, researchers are
unveiling various potential aspects of liquid biopsies; to
detect mutations, determining the position of the tumor.
This suggests that the technology promises a powerful
diagnostic technology that could be game-changing. More
substantiation, development and clinical trials are required
to completely understand the value of liquid biopsies in a
medical setting.
28 | July 2018 |