Researchers have developed a new blood test that would allow doctors to anticipate how individual patients will respond to different types of treatment for ovarian cancer. Zeenews reports that the newly developed test can determine how combinations of certain proteins affect how the disease manifests in the body.

According to Gordon Jayson, a professor from the University of Manchester in Britain, the research has made strides in personalizing treatment for a type of cancer that is notoriously difficult to treat.

“We are keen to identify predictive bio-markers – measures that can indicate how well a patient will respond to treatment – so we can better target these drugs to patients most likely to benefit,” Jayson said.

In particular, the test can predict which patients may benefit from blood vessel targeting drugs like Bevacizumab. Two proteins are of particular interest — Ang1 and Tie2 —  in determining whether or not Bevacizumab would be effective when paired with traditional treatment. The two proteins are instrumental in controlling the creation of new blood vessels. Patients who had high levels of Ang1 but low levels of Tie2 were very likely to respond to the drug, while people with high levels of both proteins were unlikely to benefit.

The study, whose findings were published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, took samples from ovarian cancer patients who were involved in an international trial for Bevacizumab. Candidates were either given the drug alongside their chemotherapy or were given chemotherapy alone.

The blood test still requires more development and testing, but this preliminary data is heartening. Researchers hope that the test will be available for you use by doctors and hospitals within the next few years.

Head over to Zeenews to read the original article.