The test builds on research for other types of cancer, that look for signs of the tumour in the bloodstream.
The field of “liquid biopsy” examines for signs of cancer in blood and other fluids, where fragments of cancer DNA can be found.
This less invasive testing process allows for testing over the duration of a cancer’s treatment, without causing further harm to the patient.
Doctor Ryan Corcoran, Associate Professor of medicine at Harvard, described to the New England Journal of Medicine that this process can give a better understanding of how a cancer responds to treatment as well as avoiding errors that can occur from examining only one part of a tumour.
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