Scientist urges better cancer cell tests

PHILADELPHIA, March 18 (UPI) -- A U.S. oncologist is urging an improvement in technology designed to detect cells that break away from tumors and spread throughout the body.

Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli, chairman of the department of medical oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, said one dangerous characteristic of cancer is its ability to metastasize, or spread through the body. Therefore, he said, oncologists need for better tests to detect such cells so they can guide treatment and improve quality of life for their patients.

The topic of circulating tumor cells has become more important as our knowledge of cancer in general and breast cancer in particular has evolved and the technology to detect such cells has improved, Cristofanilli said. But, he added, "Even though progress has been made, we need even better capabilities to detect these cells, which can tell us so much about the course of a patient's cancer."

Currently, he said, there's only one approved cancer cell test and it consists of a blood test that captures and assesses circulating tumor cells to determine a patient's prognosis in metastatic breast, colorectal or prostate cancer.

But, Cristofanilli said, the test is only able to count such cells, therefore additional technologies are needed to capture more cells, different populations of cells and the cells' gene expression patterns.

Cristofanilli's commentary appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.