Article
NYU Researchers Find Blood Test Can Measure Effectiveness of Melanoma Treatments
Researchers from the NYU School of Medicine and Perlmutter Cancer Center have determined that blood tests that track the amount of tumor DNA—after just 1 month of treatment—detect how well treatment is working in patients with skin cancer.
Researchers from the NYU School of Medicine and Perlmutter Cancer Center have determined that blood tests that track the amount of tumor DNA—after just 1 month of treatment—detect how well treatment is working in patients with skin cancer.
During the study, the researchers traced circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for the cancer gene BRAF, which plays a role in various types of melanoma. They found that a tumor’s BRAF mutation could be detected by the new blood test in 93% of the patients before treatment started. After 1 month of therapy, BRAF ctDNA levels were no longer detectable in the 40% of patients who had a positive clinical outcome after targeted therapy.
