Cancer and Genetic Mutations
Today, cancer treatment has moved towards precision and personalization, with drugs targeting different gene mutations emerging. Various cancer gene testing services and programs are effective tools to help implement precision and personalization treatment.
Human cells contain approximately 30,000 genes that govern cellular function. However, these genes can mutate due to various factors, including aging, environmental radiation, and chemicals. When these gene mutations accumulate, cellular function becomes abnormal, one consequence of which is abnormal cell proliferation, leading to tumor formation.
This demonstrates that cancer is closely related to gene mutations, and each cancer patient carries unique gene mutations. The old "one-size-fits-all" approach to cancer treatment failed to effectively address these differences, resulting in less than ideal treatment outcomes. Now, through cancer gene testing, doctors can understand a patient's specific gene mutations, allowing them to select the most suitable drugs and develop the most appropriate treatment plan.
How can genetic testing help cancer patients?
1. Provide more treatment opportunities
Patients with the same type of cancer may require different treatments due to different gene mutations. Cancer gene testing programs can uncover more potential treatment options.
2. Find the right approach to address the problem.
When specific gene mutations are detected, doctors can refer to this gene information to tailor the most personalized treatment plan for the patient and improve treatment outcomes.
3. Aid in cancer tracking and monitoring
Regular cancer gene testing services can help detect early signs of cancer cell recurrence or new mutations that occur when cancer cells become resistant to drugs, thus seizing the golden opportunity and increasing the chances of a cure.
What is cancer genetic testing
Cancer gene testing uses specialized methods to detect the presence of specific gene mutations in cancer cells. Gene testing requires obtaining a tumor tissue sample through a biopsy, and then using gene sequencing to determine the presence of specific gene mutations in the cancer cells. Common cancer gene testing programs can be categorized as follows:
Single marker detection
Targeting a known and specific variant in a gene for detection has the advantage of providing quick results and high sensitivity. However, this method cannot detect other variants of the same gene or variants of other genes.
Hot spot genetic testing
It can simultaneously detect several gene variants commonly found in a particular cancer, offering various test combinations, such as EGFR, ALK, and ROS1 in non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma. However, this method may also miss rarer gene variants or those unrelated to the cancer.
Next-generation gene sequencing
Who needs to undergo cancer gene testing?
For lung cancer, doctors typically perform genetic testing on patients with advanced non-small cell lung adenocarcinoma (i.e., when cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body) to analyze the genetic characteristics of the tumor and identify specific gene mutations. This helps match patients with the most effective targeted therapies or clinical trials, achieving the most precise and personalized treatment. Currently, the most basic cancer gene testing services include EGFR, ALK, and ROS1 gene testing. Other known gene mutations include BRAF, KRAS, HER2, MET, RET, and NTRK, among others.
Cancer gene testing projects and service process
Step 1
Doctors extract tumor tissue or plasma samples from patients and send them to a laboratory for testing.
Step 2
Laboratory staff extracted genes from tumor tissue samples for sequencing to detect gene mutations that lead to cancer growth.
Step 3
Analysis is performed based on the patient's personal information, medical records, and genetic data to match relevant drugs or clinical trials.
Step 4
The system issues cancer gene testing reports, allowing doctors to determine the most suitable treatment plan for the patient.
How to do genetic testing
tumor biopsy
Already have or can obtain tumor tissue samples
All patients with solid tumors
About 14 to 21 days (depending on the number of genes tested)
blood biopsy
Already have or can obtain tumor tissue samples
Insufficient tumor tissue samples
The location of the tumor is not suitable for biopsy
The patient's body is swollen and is not suitable for biopsy
The primary site of the tumor is unknown
About two weeks
FAQ
1. What is cancer gene testing?
Cancer gene testing aims to analyze specific gene mutations in tumor cells in order to develop more precise personalized treatment plans, such as targeted drug therapy for genes such as EGFR, ALK, and ROS1.
2. What are the methods for cancer gene testing?
Detection methods include single marker detection, hotspot gene detection, and next-generation gene sequencing. Different methods can analyze different gene variations, thus there are different cancer gene detection projects.
3. Who should consider getting cancer gene testing services?
It is recommended that patients with advanced cancer, patients with unknown tumor gene characteristics, or those who need targeted drug treatment consider genetic testing.