Minetta Liu, MD

Minetta Liu, MD, breast cancer specialist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, discusses the limitations of radiology in the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Liu says that the key in metastatic breast cancer is trying to stay ahead and determine the right time to change therapy. Currently, the gold standard for measuring this is by using imaging, such as CAT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds.

However, Liu says, it is difficult for a radiologist to measure these tumors in a reproducibleway. A study in several solid tumors found a variability of 15% when separate radiologists were asked to look at identical images. Surprisingly, Liu says, the variation was even higher when the same radiologist looked at the same picture just one week later.

Liu says that a better, more reliable method must be determined. Counting circulating tumorcells (CTCs) are more reliable and reproducible and the variation is only on the order of 1% to 5%.

Although no test is perfect, having multiple, reliable tools would help physicians to measure the progression of metastatic breast cancer, Liu says.

The key in metastatic breast cancer is trying to stay ahead and determine the right time to change therapy

It is difficult for a radiologist to measure these tumors in a reproducible way

Counting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are more reliable and reproducible

Having multiple, reliable tools would help physicians to measure the progression of metastatic breast cancer

Videos

Minetta Liu, MD, discusses the limitations of radiology in the treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer.

The Limitations of Radiology in Metastatic Breast Cancer

Minetta Liu, MD, Breast Cancer Specialist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, describes the CELLSEARCH&reg; CTC Test.

The CELLSEARCH&reg; Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Test is the only technology cleared by the FDA. In order to be cleared by the FDA, Liu says, the CELLSEARCH test met metrics for being reproducible and user-friendly.

From a single tube of the patient's blood, the number of CTCs are counted in an automated and reproducible way. The number of CTCs can be anywhere from zero to tens or hundreds of thousands, Liu says, though the absolute number is not what matters. Patients with fewer than five CTCs have a favorable prognosis, while greater than or equal to five is unfavorable. The CELLSEARCH test allows for an assessment of patient prognosis and is predictive of progression-free survival and overall survival.

CELLSEARCH is the only FDA-cleared technology to test for circulating tumor cells

The test allows for an assessment of patient prognosis and is predictive of PFS and OS

Minetta Liu, MD, Breast Cancer Specialist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, describes the CELLSEARCHÂ® CTC Test, which allows for an assessment of patient prognosis.

Minetta Liu, MD | Authors

Articles

The Limitations of Radiology in Metastatic Breast Cancer

CELLSEARCH Circulating Tumor Cell Test