A new liquid biopsy method has the potential to monitor disease evolution in patients with prostate cancer.
Data from the study, published in the Cancer Cell journal, showed that extracellular vesicles shed by prostate cancer cells to the bloodstream contain tumour-derived material that can be used as biomarkers of therapy response and resistance in patients with metastatic disease.
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Researchers from Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology’s (VHIO) prostate cancer translational research group studied 53 patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer undergoing hormone therapy or chemotherapy, using blood samples collected over time. They analysed DNA and RNA in extracellular vesicles from the blood, finding these vesicles contain tumour-derived genetic material that reveals specific mutations and can predict disease progression.
The new liquid biopsy technique demonstrated that this genetic material mirrors the cancer’s characteristics and mRNA analysis in these vesicles allowed monitoring of changes in the tumours during treatment.
These findings could help to predict response to treatment, contribute to the development of new combination strategies to combat mechanisms of acquired drug resistance and expand the opportunities to study cancer from liquid biopsies.
“The study of transcriptomic features by liquid biopsy in clinical samples has mostly been unsuccessful due to the rapid degradation of RNA when it is not shielded by the cell membrane. Our study shows that tumour mRNA encapsulated in circulating extracellular vesicles is protected and therefore represents a promising source of clinically relevant information,” explained Irene Casanova, an associate investigator of the research group.
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By GlobalDataAccording to GlobalData epidemiologists, there will be an estimated 669,284 cases of prostate cancer in the eight major markets (US, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, and China). Drug resistance remains a major challenge in the effective treatment of cancer.
Joaquin Mateo, leader of the study at VHIO, explained that adaptive mechanisms of resistance occur more rapidly and dynamically than mutations driving acquired resistance: “Monitoring these changes as they occur by liquid biopsy will enable real‐time clinical decision‐making and the selection of adaptive treatments to help combat evolving tumour dynamics earlier.”
In January 2024, the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in the UK conducted a liquid biopsy trial for melanoma. Researchers demonstrated the ability to perform the liquid biopsy test swiftly enough to influence immediate treatment choices.
