A groundbreaking blood test could enable doctors to identify failing prostate cancer treatment earlier, a trial found.
Experts believe this discovery could lead to personalised therapies and extend the lives of men with advanced disease.
The University College London study investigated whether tests for tiny fragments of tumour DNA in the blood could detect ongoing cancer growth. It involved 117 men with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer, which had spread, across 14 NHS sites.
Researchers found that three in 10 men had detectable tumour DNA in their blood after six to 12 weeks of treatment.
Crucially, combining these DNA tests with prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels identified men 20 times more likely to die than those with undetectable tumour DNA and low PSA.
Professor Gerhardt Attard, who led the study at University College London, said: “This is so exciting because it’s the first time we’ve ever seen such a clear link between tumour DNA in the blood and outcomes for men with hormone-sensitive advanced cancer.
“By using it alongside PSA blood tests, we can personalise treatments and help find the right balance between reducing side effects and giving men more time with their loved ones.
“The next step is to show that we can reproduce this and how it can be used in practice. That’s why we’re implementing it across all our clinical trials for advanced prostate cancer to get the evidence we need to roll this out as soon as possible.”
Dr Hayley Luxton, head of research, impact and engagement at Prostate Cancer UK, which funded the study alongside Movember, said: “Thousands of men are diagnosed with advanced, incurable prostate cancer every year, and right now, we can’t say which treatment will be best for which man until much later on.
“By showing if treatments are effective so much sooner, this test could not only help men with advanced prostate cancer live longer and better, but could also massively speed up prostate cancer research in future.”
The news comes a new study suggests that prostate cancer screening could reduce deaths by 13 per cent, as cancer experts in the UK assess whether to introduce a national screening programme. A decision on the potential programme is anticipated before the end of the year.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the research advocates for a “targeted” approach to screening.
This method aims to not only decrease fatalities from the disease but also to mitigate issues arising from “overdiagnosis” – a significant concern in prostate cancer detection.
Researchers meticulously analysed the risks and benefits of screening across eight European countries over a 23-year period. Their extensive dataset included information on 162,000 men, with 72,000 of these individuals invited to participate in screening.
The findings indicated that one death from prostate cancer was prevented for every 456 men who were invited for screening.
Furthermore, one death was averted for every 12 men in whom prostate cancer was diagnosed. Commentators noted that these results are “comparable to that seen with breast or bowel cancer screening”.
