Christina Isik, a 71-year-old grandmother from Greater Manchester, is living proof of how far cancer treatment has come: she's managing stage 4 lung cancer with only two tablets daily.
Thanks to a new blood test that spotted a specific mutation (ROS1) in her cancer, doctors were able to give her targeted medication instead of traditional chemotherapy.
The best part? This approach usually means fewer side effects and could work even better.
Roche blood test returns 2-week results
Developed by Roche, this blood test looks for genetic mutations in tumor cells and now gets results in just two weeks at Manchester's North West Genomic Laboratory Hub (instead of waiting on labs overseas).
It started out helping people with breast and lung cancers, but there are plans to use it for other cancers too.
As Dr. Matthew Krebs put it, personalized treatments like this can really make a difference for patients.