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Opinion: Liquid biopsy research should include the perspectives of patients like me

I'm a rational, level-headed patient advocate. But I lost it when facing a biopsy for my own #cancer diagnosis. A #liquidbiopsy would have helped.

Eleven years ago, I was shocked to be diagnosed with advanced lymphoma. To offer an informed second opinion, an oncologist recommended that I have a standard-of-care CT-guided thoracic biopsy. The goal was to collect a tissue sample from one of the nodules on my lung or from the mass in the middle of my chest that an earlier PET scan had detected.

I hope I never have to undergo a biopsy like that again. It’s why I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of what are being called liquid biopsies. These are essentially blood tests used to collect a sample of cancer cells or pieces of DNA from them.

The option to

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