A blood test may help spot glioblastoma coming back
Original title: Liquid biopsy using circulating miRNAs for the identification of recurrence-associated biomarkers in glioblastoma CNS WHO grade 4.
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.
Blood from a few patients was studied in the lab, but no test is ready to use.
The short version
Doctors looked in blood for early signs that a brain tumor is returning.
What was studied. Researchers studied 33 blood samples from seven people with glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4. Grade 4 is the highest grade there is. The tumor grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, and then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary, plus 4 tumor samples. They looked for tiny pieces of genetic material in blood called miRNA.
What they found. The team checked 45 of these pieces with a second lab method. They found 24 that changed in a shared way across patients. Two of them showed up in five of seven patients.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: A blood test might one day help doctors track this tumor over time. Right now it would be used alongside scans, not instead of them. Nothing here changes the care you get today.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean a blood test is ready for patients. It was a first small study in only seven people. The two lab methods often did not agree with each other. It does not show that anyone lived longer or felt better. It is not a cure.
Source: PubMed, October 2, 2026 · Read the original
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