Potential Blood Test Could Single Out Cancer Cells In Blood

(CBS) - Imagine a woman going to see her doctor to have a mammogram and at the same time having a tube of blood drawn searching for and finding one cell in a billion that could be a cancer cell.

That is what researchers at Sloan-Kettering, MD Anderson, Dana Farber, and Mass-General, will try to develop in the next year as they begin a revolutionary study that looks at ways to find stray cancer cells in the blood. 

Several Boston scientists are announcing Monday morning that they have developed a test so sensitive it can spot a single cancer cell hiding among a billion healthy ones.

The test uses a microchip that resembles a lab slide you may have used in high school but the test uses antibodies. They are the true defenders of your body to search out cancer cells and find them. Remember, it is those cancer cells that can get away from a tumor in one part of the body and can send cancer spreading throughout the body. As one scientist said, "This is like a liquid biopsy. It avoids painful tissue sampling, and it's more accurate." 

Reported by: Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio