Detection of Tumor DNA in Blood Samples From Cancer Patients

Detection of Tumor DNA in Blood Samples From Patients With Late Stage Cancer and "Healthy Controls"

The aim of this study is to employ genomic detection methodologies to measure the relative amount of tumor nucleic acids in the blood of a cancer patient with diagnosed metastatic disease that is either commencing, currently undergoing or completed cytotoxic chemotherapy treatment. More generally, this approach will allow us to develop a quantitative measure of therapy efficacy via the counting of the relative changes in tumor molecules over the course of treatment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 years or older
• Have metastatic disease with from a solid tumor (e.g. breast, lung, colon, pancreas, ovary, prostate...) or stage II or III solid tumors undergoing curative surgery or neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery
• Starting treatment or a new line of treatment
• Able to understand and grant informed consent
• Able to have their blood drawn

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to grant informed consent or comply with all study procedures.
• Has a hematological malignancy, i.e. myeloma, lymphoma, MDS, leukemia