Monday 20/October/2025 – 02:40 PM
A new study showed that thousands of patients in advanced stages of bowel cancer may not need traditional chemotherapy, as scientists indicated the possibility of a radical shift in the treatment method.
Promising results for a new therapeutic test
According to the researchers, an advanced blood test can determine which patients can dispense with chemotherapy or receive reduced doses of it without endangering their lives, according to what was published by the British newspaper Daily Mail.
The researchers confirmed that the test, known as ctDNA, relies on detecting minute parts of tumor DNA circulating in the blood after surgery, and in a study conducted on about 1,000 patients in the third stage of bowel cancer, it was found that patients whose results were negative in this test and whose doses of chemotherapy were reduced did not face higher relapse rates compared to those who received full treatment, and the first group also recorded lower rates of effects. Severe side effects and hospital admission.
Reduce treatment without increasing risk
The researchers explained that the new approach may be particularly safe for patients with low-risk tumors, as it has been proven that reducing chemotherapy in these cases does not reduce the chances of recovery. However, they stressed that the ctDNA test alone is not sufficient to make the decision to completely dispense with chemotherapy, and that a comprehensive evaluation of each case is needed individually.
Experts also described the results as potentially bringing about a tangible change in clinical practice in the coming years, but stressed the necessity of conducting more clinical trials to verify the accuracy of the results, explaining that the experiment showed that approximately half of the patients are overtreated even though they can be cured with surgery alone.
These results come at a time when the world is witnessing a sharp rise in the incidence of bowel cancer among those under the age of 50, reaching 50% over the past three decades. The disease is one of the most common types of cancer, with about 44,000 cases recorded annually in the United Kingdom and 142,000 in the United States.
The importance of awareness and early detection
Symptoms of bowel cancer include changes in bowel movement, blood in the stool, abdominal pain or a constant feeling of bloating, in addition to unexplained weight loss and general fatigue.
Doctors advise anyone suffering from these symptoms to consult a doctor immediately, noting that more than half of infection cases can be prevented through a healthy lifestyle and early periodic detection.