A new study, to be presented at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, shows that so-called “liquid biopsies”, blood tests that detect circulating tumour DNA, may not only sound an early alert that a treatment’s effect is diminishing, but may also help explain why -- sometimes offering clues about what to do next. Why a cancer treatment is losing its effectiveness is a question that preoccupies every patient and their doctor. But checking in on a drug’s tumor-fighting progress is not easy -- usually involving invasive biopsies and expensive scans.

Link to full European Society for Medical Oncology release on presentation by MGH investigator Aparna Parikh.