Liquid test that checks blood for tumours

Mismatches in our DNA and a clever new computer tool is showing scientists the best ways to attack cancer.

A simple blood test developed by Victorian scientists is set to deliver faster, more personalised cancer treatments and be a substantial saver for health budgets globally.

In a new study published on Thursday the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre team confirmed their computer tool, MisMatchFinder, accurately detects and analyses tumours in blood samples from cancer patients.

MisMatchFinder has been more than a decade in the making by the team led by Professor Sarah-Jane Dawson from the Dawson Lab at Peter Mac.

The research is, Prof Dawson says, a major development as it shows that through blood tests, also known as liquid biopsies, an algorithm can be used to identify cancer-related changes and patterns in a patient’s DNA.

Professor Sarah-Jane Dawson from the Dawson Lab at Peter Mac. Image: Supplied.

“The tool looks for mismatches in the DNA so we’re looking for errors or changes in the DNA that are different to what they should be,” she said.

The research was published in Nature Communication and analysed data from 375 blood samples from patients worldwide across nine cancer types.

The potential is there for this to become a standard “biopsy” for tumour profiling in the majority of cancers.

“Currently this information is obtained from conducting whole genome sequencing on a tissue biopsy sample,” Prof Dawson said.

“This process is not only expensive and time consuming, but it can also be challenging to obtain tissue biopsy samples in some patients.

“Using the MisMatchFinder method, we can gather this information through a blood test, potentially making genome sequencing accessible to more patients and allowing us to personalise treatment to their specific cancer more quickly.”

Researchers are making improvements into what information blood tests can reveal about patients.

Prof Dawson said the tool looks for changes in DNA patterns caused by cancer’s impact on cells in the body, known as the mutational signature.

“Mutational signature information can often tell us a more about the cancer including possible contributing causes as to why the cancer has developed and what type of therapy may be most effective,” she said.

Prof Dawson said liquid biopsies were a complex area, but researchers were making improvements into what information they can reveal about patients.

Next, the team will run larger clinical trials.

“We need to scale this up,” Prof Dawson said.

“Then we also need to work towards the routine reimbursement of these tests so they can be widely accessible for everyone across Australia.”

She said it was possible that in the future liquid biopsies could be part of routine population cancer screening.

The simple blood test allows scientists to analyse and detect tumours. Picture: istock

“This study was looking at patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer to see if we can understand more about the features of that cancer to help plan their treatment more effectively,” Prof Dawson said.

“But there is a lot of other research happening also looking at the application of liquid biopsy tests to see if they might be able to be used as screening tests in the future.”

This was the first paper published by researchers at the new Collaborative Centre for Genomic Cancer Medicine, a joint venture between Peter Mac and the University of Melbourne.