According to CNN, the Massachusetts General Hospital has partnered with Johnson and Johnson to help in the fight against cancer. These two medical giants are working to develop a blood test that may be able to find a single cancer cell in a person’s bloodstream.

 In a company statement, Johnson and Johnson researchers have devised a testing kit for oncologists to diagnose the presence of cancer cells and determine how much it has spread in the patient’s body. Alongside this research would be the development of new drug regimens to fight cancer.

 Dr. Mehmet Toner, Director for the BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems Resource Center in the Massachusetts General Center for Engineering in Medicine stated that the test will be available in the market in the next five years. This technology will help in developing individualized medical regimens. Overall, the technology will enable doctors to monitor patients individually and create a regimen specifically designed for the cancer they are suffering.

 According to Toner, the test will be similar to a liquid biopsy and will be designed to target all kinds of solid cancers, such as those found in the prostate or in the breasts. The cancer cells found will be analyzed and a drug therapy would be determined. This will be helpful in monitoring patients and creating the right therapy for the specific cancer.

 The company under the aegis of Johnson and Johnson partnering directly with the hospital is Veridex. Other entities involved would be Ortho Biotech Oncology Research and Development, another unit of Johnson and Johnson’s Pharmaceutical Research and Development.

 Robert McCormack, the head of technological innovation and strategy of Veridex, said that the new technology will hopefully create an easy to use, noninvasive blood test to be able to count tumor cells and map out the biology of the cells. He added, “Harnessing the information contained in these cells in an in-vitro clinical setting could enable tools to help select treatment and monitor how patients are responding.”

 Testing for circulating tumor cell technology was made available by Veridex back in 2004. These free floating cancer cells are those that have detached from the tumor and would be found in the bloodstream. Finding these cells and counting them would provide doctors and patients about the stage of the metastatic cancer and its biology. According to Toner, a circulating tumor cell can be found in five to ten billion blood cells.

 According to the American Cancer Society, this new research is groundbreaking but stopped short of its praise to remind all that this is just part of the scientific process. Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the ACS’s deputy chief medical officer said that this kind of technology has been available for some time and the ability to diagnose cancers before they become visible with current technologies is just around the corner.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of medical malpractice, contact the malpractice attorneys at the Strom Law Firm, LLC at the soonest possible time. The malpractice lawyer would provide a free consultation and discussion on your rights and options as a result of the negligence of your doctor.