How might very detailed cancer maps inform cancer management and treatment? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Have you heard of ultrasensitive genetic testing for cancer? This method produces a very detailed characterization of someone’s tumor, and William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, says it then may be used for subsequent decision making regarding treatment.

Nelson: The ideal notion is that you undergo surgery, maybe you get tested the next day you can still see some of the circulating DNA that it progressively goes away to an undetectable level. Are these tests sensitive enough, does that mean you can avoid adjuvant chemotherapy after colorectal cancer surgery? Similarly if you did avoid it and at some point in the future you could detect it again, it popped back up, could you use the same adjuvant therapy? This would suggest you might need it, could you use it? Would it be as effective from that scenario as it would have been earlier on.       :31

Most such testing is now under the auspices of clinical trials but Nelson expects it to be more broadly available soon. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.