Guardant 360

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  • #94470
    marions
    Moderator

    Ben….great. Interested to see what mutations have been discovered and most importantly, are there targeted agents available for treatment?

    Regarding nausea and other symptoms: don’t let off. As mentioned before, if it is related to a blockage then it should be addressed, if not so then medications must be considered.

    This is one of my pet peeves, dear Ben, patients should not have to suffer with this cancer.

    I realize many patients and physicians don’t like the idea of suppositories, but my feeling is that those troubled by vomiting don’t derive much benefit from oral drugs.

    This is my opinion based on my husband’s experience and the feedback of many patients on this site

    Hugs,
    Marion

    #94469
    grsharp
    Member

    Thanks Marions.

    My wife had 4 failed attempts to get a positive biopsy before surgery was preformed and a positive diagnosed was made. However, the amount and or quality of the tissue was such that only the most basic genetic testing could be preformed. No abnormalities found.

    Her recent CT scan, done about 3 weeks ago, revealed no changes in her Hilar tumor but did note that a peripancreatic node had increased in size from 1.4 cm to 1.7 cm. Her recent blood work (1 week ago) was ok with all liver enzymes and bilirubin in range. So far the cause of her symptoms have not been revealed by testing.

    After registering on the Gardant360 web site I was able to determine that the testing was completed and returned to Vanderbilt on 3/13/17. So I am following up with doctor to get results.

    Wishing Yo Well,
    Ben

    #94468
    marions
    Moderator

    grsharp….most importantly, have you received an explanation to your wife’s significant nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain? When did it start? What are her latest scans showing? This is important to ask, because sometimes there are ways to bypass certain areas blocked by the tumor, if indeed that is the reason for her problems at this time.

    I think liquid biopsies have not yet fully been explored, but it provides an alternative for some tumor tissue sampling. The idea behind is that tumors shed into the blood stream.

    “The patterns of genomic changes identified by a liquid biopsy test in a large collection of patient blood samples largely matched patterns of genetic changes seen in large tumor biopsy profiling studies.

    Tumor biopsies are an essential part of cancer care. They can confirm a cancer diagnosis, identify the cell type of the tumor, and, increasingly, they are used to determine whether a patient’s tumor contains particular genetic alterations that may make them candidates for targeted therapies.

    However, tumor biopsies require invasive procedures, including surgery, and some patients may not be candidates because of poor health or because of a tumor’s location in the body. In addition, after the initial testing and analyses of biopsy samples, not enough additional tissue may be left for comprehensive molecular profiling, or it may not be of sufficient quality for profiling.

    In the matched blood ctDNA/tumor biopsy samples, the liquid biopsy also identified genetic alterations not present in tumor biopsy samples that are known to make tumors resistant to therapy. These included mutations in the EGFR, ALK, and KRAS genes that are known to cause resistance to currently available targeted agents.

    Overall, the test identified these resistance mutations in 27% of patients, Dr. Mack said during an interview. In most cases, he continued, the mutations were likely not present at the time of the initial tumor biopsy, instead emerging as a patient’s disease progressed on therapy”

    Read more: https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2016/asco-liquid-biopsy

    Sending tons of good wishes and crossing my fingers for a targeted drug to be identified with the blood test.

    Hugs
    Marion

    #13135
    grsharp
    Member

    My wife had blood drawn and sent to Guardant on 3/1/17. We have not had opportunity to discuss results with oncologist yet. Just wondering if other here have experience with the test.

    MY wife was diagnosed November 2015. Surgery was not an option due to blood supply involvement.

    She first had 4 infusions of gem/cis. She next had 28 radiations along with continues low dose 5-FU.

    She then started on Keytruda in August of 2016 and has had 7 or 8 infusions at 3 week intervals.
    In early February her liver enzymes were so elevated that infusions were stopped and a dose of 60mg prednisone a day for 7 days was initiated. This brought her enzymes back into range.

    While on Keytruda her CA-19-9 went up from 300 to 6300. Apparently not working for her so Keytruda has been stopped to now.

    She is experiencing significant nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue and abdominal pain.

    Hopefully the Guardant results will point her toward a more effective treatment.

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