A blood test could predict how well small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients will respond to treatment, according to new research published in Nature Medicine.
Scientists, based at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute at The University of Manchester, isolated tumour cells that had broken away from the main cancer – known as circulating tumour cells (CTCs) – from the blood of 31 patients with this aggressive form of the disease1.
When researchers analysed these cells, they discovered that patterns of genetic faults measured before treatment were linked to how well and how long a patient might respond to chemotherapy.
