Blood test can replace invasive biopsy for more patients with lung cancer

A growing number of patients with advanced lung cancer could soon be offered a blood test to help to decide the best treatment for them instead of having to get a tumour sample for analysis. New data from the BFAST trial presented at the ESMO Congress 2019 have shown that the test can be used successfully to identify complex DNA mutations in the cells of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) suitable for the latest targeted medicines. The technique detects tiny pieces of tumour DNA that are shed from cancer cells into the blood.