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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		Are liquid biopsies for cancer on the horizon?
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:01
	Publish Date:		2016-02-29 00:00:00
	Description:		Could liquid biopsies for cancer be the end of invasive needle biopsies? This is Science Today. Researcher John Witte of the University of California San Francisco says this might become a reality. By detecting tumor cells or mutated DNA circulating in the blood stream, liquid biopsies would indicate the presence, type, and possibly even the location of the cancer. The basis is similar to prenatal tests, which screen for genetic disorders by examining fetal DNA in a mother’s blood. "So the hope would be for kind of screening, you’d be able to find that someone has a cancer based on the tumor DNA that’s picked up in their liquid biopsy, in their blood, or in their urine." Liquid biopsies could also be used for cancer patients who are having a recurrence. There’s still more work to be done, but so far, Witte says these tests are promising. "We’re able to pick up tumor in blood. There’s no question about that. The sensitivity, and the specificity, and how valuable it will really be, is the wide open question."
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