Your cancer may change over time and when spreading to different locations in your body. These changes can be detected with a biopsy. The pathologist will examine your biopsy sample for different biomarkers. The biomarkers present (or not present) in your biopsy sample, as well as any changes detected since your last biopsy, can help your doctor choose your next treatment. The changes detected in a biopsy sample can also help determine if you are eligible for a clinical trial you may be considering. Also, biopsies taken over time (called serial biopsies) can help scientists understand how tumor cells change over time, respond to treatments, and respond to a new location in the body.
In this month’s related From the Experts post, we are highlighting new recommendations about how biomarkers detected in a biopsy sample can be used to make treatment decisions.
Click the links below to learn more about how biopsy results are used to select treatments, determine clinical trial eligibility, and advance research.
Biopsies for Treatment Selection
- National Cancer Institute: Biomarker Testing for Cancer Treatment
- Practice Update: Sacituzumab Govitecan in Patients With and Without a Biomarker Change Detected With a Biopsy
- Metastatic Trial Search: MBC Trials Using Biomarkers for Treatment Decision Support
Biopsies for Clinical Trial Eligibility
- National Cancer Institute: NCI-MATCH Precision Medicine Clinical Trial
- Journal Article: Inclusion of Biopsies in Clinical Trials of Oncology Drugs
- Targeted Oncology: Biopsy Requirements and Enrollment in Clinical Trials
Biopsies for Research
- ecancer: Biopsy Samples from the AURORA Trial Used in Research About Breast Cancer Spread
- Metastatic Trial Search: MBC Trials Using Biomarkers for Research Predicting Response to Treatment
Last Modified on September 26, 2023