ctDNA Sequencing Could Identify Osteosarcoma Relapse Months Before Any Scan Is Able To

A promising new blood test could help doctors spot when osteosarcoma is coming back. Because osteosarcoma has a highly chaotic and complex genetic makeup that varies wildly from person to person, generic tests usually miss it. To solve this, researchers created a personalized “tumor-informed” test. They first map out the unique genetic blueprint of an individual patient’s tumor and then look for matching fragments of that tumor’s DNA floating in the patient’s bloodstream after surgery.

The study found that patients who still had this tumor DNA in their blood after surgery were at a much higher risk of their cancer returning. Remarkably, for several patients, this blood test was able to detect the cancer’s return an average of 92 days—about three months—before it could actually be seen on standard medical scans like X-rays or CT scans. While doctors caution that more research is needed before this test can completely change treatments or replace regular scans, it opens the door to a much more personalized way of tracking bone cancer and intervening when the disease is at its absolute smallest.

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