Liquid Biopsy Project

Wednesday 25, April 2018

The Foundation Carrera por la Vida | Walk for Life would like to strengthen our support for Liquid Biopsy research which is revolutionizing the diagnosis of cancer

In 2017, Fero has decided to focus on the cancer genomics laboratory led by Dr. Ana Vivancos, and in particular, we would like to strengthen our support for liquid biopsy, a technique that is revolutionizing the diagnosis of cancer.

The liquid biopsy consists of a simple blood analysis that allows to detect mutations associated with tumours and avoid invasive biopsies, painful punctures and surgeries. In addition, it allows to get very quickly results (available in just few days!!) and thanks to being a simple process, it can be repeated many times. This facilitates the patient’s follow-up and allows, not only to diagnose, but also to continuously evaluate the disease progression and patient response to treatment. We are currently using only 1% of its potential and to expand it, we need more research, improve scientific evidence, find what mutations give us useful information and how to use this information to improve the oncological patient’s life.

Currently, at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital, liquid biopsy is already used in some tumours. Thus, since OncoBEAM / BEAMing technology was incorporated in metastatic colorectal cancer at the end of 2015, it has been extended to other cancers such as melanoma and lung cancer. So far, liquid biopsy is still in its experimental phase and it is still not applied to clinic, but thanks to research, it is expected to be able to do so shortly and also to expand the range of tumours to be detected.