Extended liquid biopsies expected on Harley Street in two-three years, according to Dr Khan.
The cost of extended genomic testing for cancer is likely to come down dramatically within two-three years due to development of faster access to diagnostic facilities, a top oncologist at The London Clinic has said.
“The in-house extended gene panels and lab facilities needed for so-called liquid biopsy diagnostics are being developed at the specialist provider and will therefore mean they are more affordable for a wider range of patients”, Medical Oncologist Dr Khurum Khan said.
Genomic testing involves using blood samples to analyse genes to provide unique information about the features of a tumour, which can require panels of up to 350 genes.
Gene panels are collections of genes that have been grouped for testing, enabling simultaneous sequencing of all the genes known to cause a particular disease. They may include anything from two to over 1,000 genes.
Testing for specific cancers using ‘targeted’ gene panels is currently available to private and clinical trial patients with solid tumours being treated by The Royal Marsden, in addition to NHS patients with late-stage lung cancer as part of an NHS England pilot.
Wider testing using ‘extended’ panels are used when there is inconclusive evidence as to a specific diagnosis and can be used to indicate signs across a range of potential cancers.
Dr Khan said “this wider emerging diagnostic tool can transform a patient’s treatment pathway in around twenty per cent of cases, determining whether they need to have invasive treatments such as chemotherapy.”
For example, he described how one of his patients received treatment after genomic testing that transformed her prognosis from three months to remission five years later.
Dr Khan says “he expects the price of such tests to come down significantly once the in-house panels at The London Clinic are developed, making savings on transport of samples to external labs, and the use of internal expertise.”
The development follows increased investment since The London Clinic partnered with US-based academic healthcare organisation Northwestern Medicine in November last year, which it said would “accelerate The London Clinic’s infrastructure improvements and growth ambitions”.
These have included the launch of a new Rapid Diagnostics Centre earlier this year and are set to include a range of new clinical services set to be announced over the coming months.
