Hi, has anyone in the UK had a private Signatura test? Interested also in hearing from people that have asked their medical teams about this and been told it’s not worth it.
Sorry, no help, but wondering what one is?
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From our friend Google:
Signatera is a new blood test that can identify molecular residual disease (MRD), or recurrent cancer, sooner than existing methods by detecting the presence of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). Signatera is a custom-designed test that is generated based on each patient’s unique set of tumor mutations.
Apparently, in simplified terms, the test involves taking a biopsy of a tumour to check its DNA and then doing blood tests to see if that DNA is in the bloodstream. I’m assuming this means that for anyone who has already had tumour removed by surgery it would be too late now to get the biopsy done to find the DNA.
Also, according to Google, it costs between £2900 and £3500 to get it done privately.
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Perhaps labs hold onto tumour samples that have been removed after? No idea if private labs can gain access to nhs samples this way. Would be good to find out what happens to our tumors that are removed. Do they destroy the rest after they’ve done the tests to their satisfaction, or keep some samples for future research?
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