Grand Rapids lab among first to offer highly specialized breast cancer test

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Illustrating Grand Rapids’ evolution as an epicenter for advanced health care, the Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM) announced last week that it is the only lab in Michigan to offer a test that identifies and counts circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the bloodstream of patients with stage IV, or metastatic, breast cancer.

If five or more CTCs are present in a blood sample, it indicates that the patient is at risk of the cancer spreading. A simple blood test, called the CellSearch System, counts the CTCs in the patient’s bloodstream.

“The test allows the treating oncologist to obtain objective clinical laboratory data that may be used in tailoring a patient’s therapy,” says Dr. Daniel H. Farkas, CMM executive director. “If the CTC values rise, the oncologist can change the therapy.”

Without the CellSearch test, physicians and patients often have to wait months to determine that a treatment is not working, and often that wait is lethal. The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation estimates 40,460 women will die from breast cancer this year, and 178,480 will be diagnosed with the disease. Of those who die, most will die from recurrent metastatic cancer.

“The CMM was created to bring the most cutting-edge diagnostic tests to Grand Rapids physicians and patients,” Dr. Farkas says. “By bringing online tests such as CellSearch the CMM is poised to help move Grand Rapids into the genomic medicine century.”

The CellSearch test costs $495. The CMM is working with area insurance providers regarding coverage.

Source: Daniel H. Farkas, PhD., HCLD, Center for Molecular Medicine; Don Hunt, Lambert Edwards & Associates

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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.