Blood Test to Find Cancer Cells: Will it Eliminate Biopsies?

Will biopsies some day be a part of the past? All too often surgery is done to remove a tumor for a biopsy. This invasive procedure causes pain and typically results in a scar in the area of the incision.

A Test to Find Cancer Cells in the Blood

But now a new test to determine if cancer is present in a patient's body is under development to find cancer cells in a less invasive way than a biopsy. Johnson & Johnson is working on the creation of a blood test that is able to easily determine if cancer cells are circulating in the body, notes the Daily Mail.

It is amazing how medical science is always advancing and finding new ways to identify active diseases. This test could give quick results and spare patients the agony of waiting a week after tumor surgery to find out if the tumor is cancer or just benign.

A Teaspoon of Blood could Diagnose Cancer

This test would use a plastic base covered with thousands of bristles covered with antibodies. When blood impacts the bristles any cancer cells present will glow. This new way of finding cancer will require only about a teaspoon of blood.

This test could be used to diagnose cancer and also to see how treatments for the disease are working. It may be in use around the world in about three to five years. Right now certain hospitals, such as Massachusetts General Hospital, are currently using the test to track treatment progress of patients with cancer.

What changes will this upcoming test bring to medical diagnosis and treatment of cancer? Will it find cancers at a very early stage? Or will it only be used when symptoms already indicate cancer?

Scientists must be abuzz about this development. It will hopefully help patients avoid a lot of unnecessary biopsies.