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Has anyone talked with a doctor about the RGCC cancer testing?
I suppose it's natural to be curious about a test/tests that claims to be able to pick up evidence of circulating tumor cells, right? Don't we all want that -- to know whether there's cancer somewhere else in our bodies? But oh the cost. Sooo expensive. And I don't even know if it's reliable, or if I'm just wishfully thinking.
Does anyone know anything about CTC (circulating tumor cell) or liquid biopsy tests and whether there's any real value there?
Hugs, everybody.
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Hi. I see that the RGCC test is being offered by Quest Diagnostics. It is in a package of tests. CTC, Liquid biopsy, Immune profiling, Personalized cancer treatment tests. If I had the money, I would try them, to see what information I could glean. Any test I bring up at my cancer center is rejected.
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1 ReactionI love testing, and having online resources to help with correct interpretation. I (sadly) have stopped trying to get this kind of future-thinking support only from my regular oncologist. I do a little bit with an integrative doctor and he's expensive but he is delighted to talk about such things.
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1 ReactionI took the Signatura test by Natera. It is a personalized blood test that has high accuracy for detecting circulating tumor DNAs in your blood. It is customized to your specific tumor. My oncologist said that it is the future for identifying relapses. It is new and they are still forming the protocols for dealing with the results. It is expensive. It is covered by insurance only for some cases.
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5 ReactionsI have a young oncologist, and she welcomed my suggestion to do Signatera "liquid biopsy" testing even though it isn't necessarily standard procedure yet. I'm 1 year out from treatment and have had 2 of these tests indicating no spread of my breast cancer. This testing is very expensive, but thankfully it's covered by Medicare. I believe there is a program from Natera, the testing company, to mitigate cost for low resource folks. This is a very welcome test as I have invasive, metastatic cancer. Also being treated with Kisqali and Anastrozole...
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2 ReactionsAlso, my oncologist thinks this is definitely the future for monitoring some cancers.
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2 ReactionsI asked previous medical oncologist about Signatera. She said there's currently no standard treatment if test is positive. So she doesn't do it. Also from reading Rebel Cell by Kat Arney it seems that it's likely we all have cancer cells in our bodies but only rarely do they settle down in a lump to form a cancer. Nevertheless, I will ask my new oncologist about it.
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2 ReactionsMy oncologist uses the test as an "early warning" if positive. It is a more sensitive test than radilogy scans and it provides information to the onco that might indicate that a particular therapy is not fully working or needs to be augmented. In my case, I'm on Kisqali to to prevent recurrence, so repeated negative tests have helped give confidence that the meds are working.
RGCC was developed by a Swiss company. It doesn't appear to yet be approved by the US Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and The College of American Pathologists (CAP). US labs that provide medical grade testing are CLIA certified and CAP accredited. This ensures test results meet and exceed industry standards for clinical laboratory testing.
RGCC looks promising and is similar to the Galleri test. The Galleri test is a blood test, offering a new way to screen for cancers. Many cancers can start to grow but show no symptoms until later stages. With Galleri pathologists are able to look for a signal shared (tumor DNA in a person’s circulation) for more than 50 types of cancer. If a cancer signal is found, the results predict where in the body the cancer may be located to help your provider guide your next steps. Galleri should be done in addition to, not in place of, any annual cancer screenings recommended by your healthcare provider. This test does not detect all cancers and is not meant to replace genetic testing for those at increased risk of hereditary cancers.
More information can be found at https://www.galleri.com/
Patients interested in this Galleri test can talk to their primary care provider. This test is available at Mayo Clinic.
- Early Cancer Detection Test Studied at Mayo Clinic https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/groundbreaking-early-cancer-detection-test-studied-at-mayo-clinic-introduced-nationally/
Here are related discussion that talk about testing for circulating tumor cells https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/discussions/?search=circulating%20tumor%20cells
Hello. On page 39 of the book, The Cancer Revolution, revised edition, by Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy, the doctor discusses why she chooses the RGCC test over the Galleri test. The test assesses CTC, CSC. It is an extremely sensitive test with a high degree of accuracy, according to the doctor. The test also reveals what drugs, supplements and other treatments will be most effective for each patient. This test can be used for the early detection for colon, lung, and prostate cancer as well.