Has anyone had TOO LITTLE DNA in their blood for a Liquid Biopsy with Foundation One?

[greatjohn]

first my old biopsies didn't have "sufficient material" to use for a solid biopsy test with Foundation One.

Then they came and drew blood and now told the Oncologist that there was not enough "DNA?" in my blood for them to do a test?

Has this ever happened to anyone? Doctor says I will have to wait until I have a tumor big enough for them to biopsy. (the couple still showing are too small they say)

I'm wondering does that mean that there's not enough "floating Cancer DNA" to do the test....they can't mean my "real" DNA...I'm assuming it's full of that.

is this a good thing?

Curious and really wanted to know what kind of cancer I am dealing with....

gJohn

[Tall_Allen]

Yes, it's a good thing. Why were you having this test done, anyway?

[greatjohn in reply to Tall_Allen]

I just thought it would be good to know what I'm dealing with.... My PSA on Lupron and Xtandi keeps inching up.

I did chemo right out out of the gate after stage 4 diagnosis a little over 2 years ago.

Also did Provenge one year ago.

John

[Tall_Allen in reply to greatjohn]

How much did "good to know" cost you?

[greatjohn in reply to Tall_Allen]

Nothing out of pocket. I feel like I am (after only 2 years of stage 4) running out of options. Xtandi is starting to fail. PSA just keeps inching up.

[NPfisherman in reply to greatjohn]

So you have been taking indomethacin already??

Fish

[greatjohn in reply to NPfisherman]

I started but doctor only gave me 15 day supply.

[NPfisherman in reply to greatjohn]

That would just make me crazier...why only 15 days??....it makes no sense....and the rationale for doing only 15 days was? Let me guess--not proven by a Phase 3 trial. !!!! Tired of that crap....

Don Pescado

[cesanon in reply to NPfisherman]

Why indomethacin? What does it do?

[NPfisherman in reply to cesanon]

Indomethacin has been shown to break resistance of PCa cells to Xtandi and Indomethacin in some studies...They are doing a trial with Xtandi and Indomethacin now...

Fish

[greatjohn in reply to cesanon]

Hi,

to explain indomethacin....it's easier to tell you to google the three words...indomethacin and prostate cancer.

lots of trials and testing being done.

My doctor has mentioned nothing as a further option yet...but from what I read...there is redoing Chemo (yuck) ....or changing to Xofiga (I think it is...where if you fail on Xtandi...you're almost doomed to fail on it also...)

I've already done Provenge.

The good news is....I haven't had any big growth ...most remission and slight upticks in a couple of places on Axumin PET scans....and my PSA is not fly up...it's a gradual uphill .....climb.

so ...I think I'm considering no options yet (to answer your question below)

just going to keep on keeping on...

gjohn....

PS and trying to use what I can to help boost the efficacy of the drugs.

[cesanon in reply to greatjohn]

GreatJohn, what options are you now considering?

[Trecento in reply to greatjohn]

Keep up the hope. Sometimes I wonder whether our diagnostics explain everything.

[tango65]

It happened to me. I read a recently article indicating that a positive biopsy is more frequent if there are many bone metastases and the PSA is greater than 10.

[PhilipSZacarias in reply to tango65]

Hello Tango65, could you post the reference? Cheers, Phil

[tango65 in reply to PhilipSZacarias]

I think is this one:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/308...

"Disease burden, including a PSA >10 ng/mL, is strongly associated with detecting somatic mutations from cfDNA "

[PhilipSZacarias in reply to tango65]

Much appreciated. I am going to have a CTC and genomic testing performed in about 3 weeks. I raised the issue of low PSA but they said it was not an issue because they can amplify the tumor DNA. We shall see. Cheers, Phil

[tango65 in reply to PhilipSZacarias]

Sometimes doctors do these tests with low PSA and tumor burden, hoping that something is detected. They ordered mine with a PSA less than 0.1 and no metastases. Nothing was detected.

[PhilipSZacarias in reply to tango65]

Good to know, thanks.

[mklc in reply to PhilipSZacarias]

Hi Phil,

If you don't mind me asking where are you doing the genetic testing?

Best regards,

Mike

[PhilipSZacarias in reply to mklc]

Hello Mike, I will be going to see Dr. Martin Gleave at the University Urology Associates and the Prostate Centre in Vancouver, BC. My oncologist referred me. Cheers, Phil

[mklc in reply to PhilipSZacarias]

I hope it works out well.

Good health to you.

[greatjohn in reply to mklc]

mine was done through Foundation One.

[mklc in reply to greatjohn]

Hi greatjohn,

Did it help your treatment?

thank you.

Mike

[greatjohn in reply to mklc]

Mike...the "Liquid" biopsy done through Foundation One basically Showed I did NOT have enough cancer DNA in the sample to test. So it did nothing. I am feeling good about so little cancer DNA floating around...so it's not all bad.

gJohn

[mklc in reply to greatjohn]

So happy to hear this. Thank you so much greatjohn.

All best wishes and good health to you.

[kmack57]

Is that your picture post fenben?

[NPfisherman in reply to kmack57]

Good one...!!!!

Fish

[monte1111 in reply to kmack57]

Funny.

[larry_dammit]

No they got mine fine. Couldn’t find much except a mutated colon type gene

[mklc]

Good morning and how are you?

When is the best time to do a liquid biopsy?

Sincere thanks.

Mike

[greatjohn in reply to mklc]

it looks like best is to get a test done from actual biopsied cancer sample.

[mklc in reply to greatjohn]

Thank you greatjohn,

wishing you good health.

[greatjohn in reply to mklc]

and to you.

gJohn

[dadzone43]

I am assuming this is a genetic test. If so, they are looking at your native

DNA. The only source in the blood is white blood cells that are a tiny fraction of the volume of blood in a sample. Not surprising that they might not get enough to test in a 10 cc blood draw.

[dadzone43]

never mind: my own ignorance. they are testing "cell-free" tumor DNA which floats in the serum portion of the sample. Being low would be a good thing.

[j-o-h-n]

love the love couch...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 06/27/2019 5:00 PM DST

[greatjohn in reply to j-o-h-n]

My spoiled rotten puppy Sparky.... claimed it for his own when I walked in the door with it.

It's an actual antique Victorian miniature chaise lounge. He is there right now as I type this. 🥰

[j-o-h-n]

Is it for sale? not the dog... the lounge............ (actually I don't have room for it, remember I'm a Junktiquer full of stuff). Ever hear of the Collyer brothers?

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 06/27/2019 5:59 PM DST

[greatjohn in reply to j-o-h-n]

We're full of junk too ...had an antiques business in Miami for over 20 years. Still have an Ebay store with partner.

This chaise was supposed to be for sale....but Sparky had other ideas.😊

[j-o-h-n]

What do you call a dog with steel balls and is dragging them across a cement sidewalk?

Sparky.

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 06/27/2019 7:12 PM DST

[j-o-h-n]

youtube.com/watch?v=YKtlK7s...(Not working as expected?)

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Thursday 06/27/2019 7:13 PM DST