Circulating Tumor Blood Tests

[jersey-jazz]

This test developed by CellSearch.has been approved by the FDA. Has anyone been tested to find where cancerous cells are in your body? I've asked about this for thes for a year and am ignored. I will continue to be like a drippy faucet, not stopping until I get a definite answer. MSKCC has the capacity.

[blms]

I could be wrong but I believe that CT test is more important before MBC and then can be used to see how you are responding to treatment after. So, I am guessing that several docs use markers instead for the response aspect. If you find out more, please share.

[jersey-jazz in reply to blms]

I am not referring to biomarkers but to a relatively new thing which I think reveals where the cancerous cells are lurking in your body. It seems to me that it would be very useful to us as MBCs.

[jersey-jazz in reply to blms]

I wrote to you about twenty minutes ago but do not see it on the screen. It appears that the circulating tumor test locates the sites where the cancerous cells are lurking in the body. That is different than the biomarkers that may indicate the level of cancer in your body.

[Timtam56]

well now that you’ve mentioned it I will ask my oncologist next week at my next appointment.

[Mimigram]

I have had the test done twice. It is a Biocept blood test. Your doctor has to order the kit. You then you take it to a lab where they draw your blood and send it in to Biocept for results. It checks for circulating cancer cells in your body.

Hope this helps.

[jersey-jazz in reply to Mimigram]

First of all, thank you for responding. Are Biceps and CellSearch equivalent companies? I called CellSearch and was told that MSKCC has the facility and has used CellSearch. I really would like to know more about your experience with the test.

My reason for wanting it is that I have just had the one fairly large cancerous tumor removed from my body and am not taking any treatment at the moment. I have had some really bad side effects from Letrozole and am leaving my body to heal, just now. I spoke with the oncologist just yesterday, and so she is aware of that. She wants me to switch to Faslodex (spelling?) after a month. I do not want to start any treatment until I know where the cancer is landing in my body. The truth is I really do not want to do this to my body which has aged so much in the last fifteen months since I started anti-hormone therapy.

Why and how did you get the test(s) and what did you gain from it them?

[Mimigram in reply to jersey-jazz]

Hello, I consult with Dr. Rosenberg out of Florida he ordered the test. Both times came my test came back -0 circulating cancer cells. The test does not detect stem cell cancers. It is a very easy blood test but once again your doctor has to order it. I have never heard of the other test that you mentioned.

My oncologist has not heard of the test But she did asked to see the report. I guess not all doctors are aware of it.

[jersey-jazz in reply to Mimigram]

Mimigram. So, I was mistaken about it locating where the cancer cells are lurking in your body. Instead, you say that it measures the amount of cancer cells in your body. How is it different then, from the biomarkers which, I gather, are unreliable?

[Mimigram in reply to jersey-jazz]

The test measures how many circulating cancer cells are within your body. I am not sure which biomarkers you are referring to. I get the CA 27-29 Every two months. That is a tumor marker measure.

[NShaft]

I have had both the Guardiant and FoundationOne liquid biopsies. They test for mutations in the cancer tumors by what is circulating in your blood. I'm sure I haven't explained it correctly but it can help guide your treatment. Do the tests you mentioned do something else?

[jersey-jazz in reply to NShaft]

Yes, I believe that they do. I think that they pinpoint the places in your body that are harboring the cancerous cells. That is what I think but am not completely sure about that. My oncologist is not agreeable to even discussing it with me.

[blms]

But then the question is, what do they do different with meds after you are already MBC. These cells are small, obviously, but they have to treat the entire body. Example I already know I have cancer in my liver and certain bones and being treated for those things. I see no advantage, at this point in time for me, to have the CTBT as we know we need to treat what shows up big. Still seems that it is more beneficial before MBC to have this test periodically to see where cancer wants to grow.

[MBCinIowa]

I have also asked my Onc doc to order and have been ignored. All the traditional tumor markers that would show elevated levels come back normal for me, so this seemed like a good option. I too will continue to be a drippy faucet.

CellSearch measures the level of cancer cells circulating in the body. Everyone that has had cancer has at least some circulating but it doesn't mean they will develop actual cancer. The benefit I see from doing the cellsearch test periodically is to watch for an increase in the circulating cells. It won't tell you where the cancer is though, just if the cancer cells are increasing.

[jersey-jazz in reply to MBCinIowa]

Sorry for the delayed response. I too have recordings of normal biomarkers. Obviously, I am struggling to be informed and really don't even know enough to ask the right questions of my doctor(s). What I do know, though, is that there is something there that may be of help to me, if only I knew more. I think that there may be another name for this test. As noted above, I have recently had the one large cancerous tumor removed from my body by microwave ablation. Although the PET scan showed some elevation in some areas of my torso, none were above the danger level. It confounds me that they were willing to do the microwave ablation on my MBC body when in 2015 I was told twice that no surgery was done on Stage 4 patients. Weird! There are just so many questions. An answer to one question breeds more unanswered questions. If you get any further with your search, please let me know and I will do the same.