Thought id also post this as it may give us all a bit of cheer. When i saw my onc on Wed, i mentioned 'liquid biopsies ' which he explained are actually blood samples from which an attempt is made to classify cancer cells within the circulating blood. I asked about this because I had heard about it on the Inspire website.
My onc had, at a previous appt explained that they thought my ca had changed its DNA(letrozole no longer worked, whilst id had a brilliant response some years earlier) so this week, I wanted to know if i was still oestrogen pos.
the onc said on Wed there was a trial being considered soon which would be looking at precisely that and I would be eligble for it, but that the planners were still trying to find the money.
apparently they hope to be able to look at the subsequent dna changes that happen and to then be able to target these and even eventually maybe predict which changes will happen so they can target those also.
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if this approach works then ethically, the NHS will have to make it available all over the UK, as I suspect it will soon be in the USA....as they seem to be trialling it already!
THis appears to be a radical new way of looking at cancer which could make great inroads into treatments, because I had already heard that ca cells metabolism uses specific proteins in order to grow and spread. Seems this new method could perhaps lead to them nipping these in the bud? As well as forgo the need for tissue biopsies, which of course are painful and traumatic and cannot always be done...some mets are far too small to be seen.
i think CANCER RESEARCH UK .is a good place to watch, for these new trials hopefully to be emerging shortly.
love and hugs
Moijan
