A clinical trial conducted here in Warrnambool by Dr Theresa Hayes has had its findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Dr Hayes is a co-authur in the paper with South West providing 11 patients to this international study.

The trial looked at adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II colon cancer.  The presence of circulating tumour DNA after surgery predicts very poor recurrence-free survival, whereas its absence predicts a low risk of recurrance.  The ctDNA guided approach will serve as base line testing for patients to see if they will benefit from chemotherapy.