A blood test found a drug target in one lung cancer case
Original title: Clinical Utility of Liquid Comprehensive Genomic Profiling in Advanced Lung Adenocarcinoma Complicated by Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation: A Case Report.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This was one patient's case, not a study that shows it works for others.
The short version
A blood test found a gene change, and the matching drug shrank her tumors.
What was studied. This is a report on one patient. She was a 74 year old woman with lung cancer that had spread to her bones and brain. A tissue test found no gene change to treat. Doctors then tested her blood instead.
What they found. The blood test found a change in a gene called HER2. A drug aimed at HER2 shrank her tumors a lot. It also cleared a dangerous blood clotting problem. But during the sixth round of the drug, she got serious lung swelling, rated Grade 3. The drug had to be stopped for good. Her cancer later spread to the lining of the brain.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Sometimes there is no tumor tissue left to test. A blood test may still find a gene change that a drug can target. If you are in that spot, you can ask your doctor if a blood based gene test makes sense for you.
What it doesn't mean: This is one person's story, not a study. One result does not show how other people will do. It is not a cure. Her cancer came back, and the drug caused serious lung harm that forced doctors to stop it. Also note this was lung cancer that spread to the brain, not a tumor that started in the brain.
Source: PubMed, September 2, 2026 · Read the original
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