Liquid Biopsy Blood Test Helps Israeli Woman Beat Metastatic Breast Cancer
A 68-year-old woman from southern Israel, identified as “Idit” to protect her privacy, saw her metastatic breast cancer come under control after a liquid-biopsy blood test revealed a mutation that guided a more precise treatment. The case was described by Dr. Dina Levits, head of the oncology department at Assuta Ashdod, who said the disease now shows no signs in her body, and by the patient, who said the test “saved my life.”
Idit had suffered for months from leg pain without knowing she had advanced metastatic disease. Only after extensive imaging did doctors discover spread to her bones and bladder from breast cancer she had been treated for years earlier. Levits said she had gone about eight months with metastatic disease untreated, and when she arrived at Assuta Ashdod, the team moved quickly to start therapy.
Her first-line standard treatment, hormone therapy plus CDK inhibitors, did not stop progression. Levits said that at that point options were limited, and because the general protocols were unlikely to work, she referred Idit for advanced genomic testing based on liquid biopsy, known as Guardant 360. The blood test detects tumor DNA fragments in the bloodstream, can identify more than 740 cancer-related genes, and is FDA-approved for comprehensive genomic profiling of solid tumors.
The test found an AKT mutation, which Levits said would not have been found through tests covered by Israel’s health basket. Idit then began targeted oral therapy aimed at that mutation, combined with advanced hormone treatment. Nearly two years later, there is no evidence of disease. Levits said she remains on treatment because she is still considered a patient, but the regimen gives her excellent quality of life, full function, and no chemotherapy-like side effects such as hair loss or nausea. Levits said the test is especially useful in metastatic breast cancer, including triple-negative disease and, in some advanced hormone-positive cases, because it enables personalized treatment.
