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Caring for patients with cancer can be incredibly rewarding. We’ve seen amazing progress in recent years, with new tests and therapies that enable us to successfully treat and manage the disease for more people. But significant challenges remain.

Tumours evolve over time, adapting to their surroundings, becoming resistant to treatments and spreading to other parts of the body. We and others have reasoned that the earlier disease relapse can be detected, the smaller the burden of disease and the greater the chance that treatments will be effective.Ìý

This is why we started TRACERx, a Cancer Research UK funded study to track lung cancer evolution in real time, looking at how genetic changes and diversity within tumours affects the course of disease. We’ve followed hundreds of patients, from diagnosis through to either disease relapse or cure after surgery, tracking and analysing how their cancer has developed.

±õ²ÔÌý, we showed that we could use the patchwork of genetic faults, defined through gene-sequencing of a patient’s lung tumour tissue, as a cancer fingerprint. We showed that this fingerprint could help identify remnants of that patient’s cancer following surgery through a simple blood test. In some cases, we could detect relapsing cancer many months before doctors caring for that patient found that same cancer on routine follow-up scans.

The ctDNA test is based upon patient-specific genetic mutations, present in every part of their tumour. Amplifying these unique markers makes it easier to detect a minimal amount of residual disease – the needle in the haystack that’s almost impossible to spot.Ìý

And just last week we had the news that all researchers hope for. The validation of this ground-breaking technology has helped improve outcomes for patients.

In a landmarkÌýÌýled by Dr Thomas Powles at Barts Cancer Institute, researchers performed ³§¾±²µ²Ô²¹³Ù±ð°ù²¹â„¢ ctDNA tests in over 500 patients who had received surgery to remove tumours in the bladder or urinary system. Patients were randomised to receive monitoring or additional treatment with an immunotherapy drug atezolizumab. Patients positive for ctDNA had improved overall survival if they were given atezolizumab, but the same benefit wasn’t seen for patients without ctDNA in their blood.Ìý

This means the test can be used to accurately identify patients most likely to benefit from additional treatment, and importantly survive for longer. Not only will this increase the number of people surviving their cancer, but spare others unnecessary treatments and related side effects.Ìý

The possible benefits don’t end here. These types of tests have the potential to completely transform the way we treat patients following surgery. Traditionally, we use pathological information about tumour stage to guide whether we offer additional treatments like chemotherapy after surgery to eradicate residual tumour cells that may spread one day, and minimise the risk of recurrence. But now, there is the real potential that treatment may be refined and guided by molecular tests such as these, offering therapy only to those patients who will really benefit from it.

We could see an end to the anxious wait patients face between follow-up scans, wondering whether their treatment has worked or if their cancer has come back. With further validation in different cancer types, we could also use this test to monitor response to treatments in the absence of disease on a scan, changing tack at the earliest sign of drug resistance.Ìý

None of this would be possible without the foundation of biological research – the fundamental understanding of tumour genetics and evolution that has led to more refined and personalised tests and treatments. I have no doubt that in the not too distant future, we will see cancer treatment plans informed through personalised genetic testing and regular monitoring of tumour DNA in the blood.Ìý

ProfessorÌýCharles SwantonÌýisÌýhead of theÌýCancer Evolution and Genome Instability LaboratoryÌýat the Crick and ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº, and Chief Clinician at Cancer Research UK.

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• ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Cancer Institute
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• Professor Charles Swanton

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• The Francis Crick Institute

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