Signatera Blood Test for EC

[FierceFriend]

Is anybody using the Signatera blood test to detect cancer recurrence? I do not think that it has been approved by the FDA for endometrial cancer, but I've heard that some people pay out of pocket for it and that it can pick up the presence of circulating cancer cells before a CT scan will show anything. The next logical question would be, what could be done if these cells show up in the blood but a mass doesn't show up on a scan? If anybody has experience with or thoughts on this, please share. Thank you.

[Merma Moderator]

I just talked with my drs about this. The response were: 1) The blood tests have not been been widely tested on EC patients, so they don’t know how accurate they are. 2) They don’t identify where the cancer is.

I had been debating about paying for it or one of the others, but then my PET/CT showed a recurrence, so it became a moot point. Sigh.

[FierceFriend in reply to Merma]

I am sorry to hear about your recurrence. It is our daily nightmare, which is why we ask the questions that we do.

When I asked my oncologist about Signatera a few months ago, he said that he wouldn’t know what to do with the results. I suppose that meant that he wouldn’t know where the cancer was. I was hoping that just knowing that the cancer was back and floating in my blood would lead to some sort of medicinal or immunotherapy treatment. It is disappointing to know that science and medicine is not there yet for us.

Best wishes as you face this next hurdle. Your sisters are behind you.

[Merma Moderator in reply to FierceFriend]

Thank you so much! This is really the time when I need friends that understand.

I think that the whole denying women with high risks the option of regular scans or liquid biopsies is a big problem, and something we need to advocate for.

[FierceFriend in reply to Merma]

Endometrial cancer needs its own advocacy group that fundraises and advocates for research, a la Komen. Also, maybe our oncologists need to be more assertive in suggesting & supporting therapies that are out of the box when what’s in the box has proven to be useless. (I do recognize that there are insurance coverage concerns, but let’s at least have the conversations - and more EC research!)

I hope your doctor has a good treatment plan for you. I’ll look for updates, in case you decide to post. Wishing you strength as well as a positive outcome.

[Merma Moderator]

Advocacy Group - International Gynocologic Cancer Society

igcs.org/news-advocacy-summit/

They will post this very good event on YouTube in the future. But, check out the site.

[FierceFriend]

Thank you for sharing this. 👍🏻

[Ziggysmom]

Hi, I'm not familiar with this test but it sounds similar to the Galleri test. When I read up about it, it sounds like there are a lot of false positives and even more false negatives. My doctor did not recommend it.