A new breakthrough may mean that the spread of cancer cells could now be monitored by a blood test, it has been reported.
By using a device developed by scientists which detects tumour cells in the blood, doctors and patients will be spared the time-consuming and invasive needle procedure normally used to obtain cancerous cells.
"If they can scale this up for commercial use, it could be a marked breakthrough," said Dr Joan Schiller, an oncologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
While results from the use of new technology which isolates tumour cells have been relatively successful the process is laborious and the technique still needs to be perfected.
"It’s a question of time, really, before this can become more broadly available," said Dr Daniel Haber, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston.
Results and findings from the study are published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
