Waiting is the hardest part. Anyone who has ever had to wait for the results of an important medical test knows this, let alone one involving a brain tumor. Two months of agony, of unanswered questions, of postponed therapies. But what if they told you that soon this wait could last only two hours? It's not an empty promise: that's what's happening in English hospitals where they've started using a new DNA test to diagnose brain tumors in real time. The technology exists, it works, and it has already changed the lives of fifty patients. The question now is: when will it arrive here?
How the new DNA test works
The secret is called nanopore sequencing and it works in a surprisingly elegant way. Imagine a lunchbox-sized device that can “read” tumor DNA by passing genetic strands through tiny holes. As the genetic material passes through these nanopores, the device detects changes in electrical current and translates them into DNA sequences. It’s as if the tumor itself were telling its genetic story in real time.
Professor Matthew Loose, who leads the team from the University of Nottingham, explains that their method can eliminate four or five separate tests, dramatically reducing costs. The software developed by the researchers compares the DNA read with a library of known brain tumors, identifying the specific type often in less than an hour.
DNA testing in the operating room
The real revolution is that this DNA test can be performed while the patient is still in the operating room. The system, called ROBIN, uses portable devices from Oxford Nanopore Technologies and allows surgeons to have crucial diagnostic information before the operation is even finished.
Stuart Smith, a neurosurgeon affiliated with the university, emphasizes how this speed can decisively influence surgical choices. Surgeons may decide during surgery whether to take a more aggressive approach. or whether surgery actually offers benefits to the patient.
Results that speak for themselves
In clinical trials on fifty operations, the new DNA test achieved 100% accuracy. In 76% of cases, fresh samples were confidently identified within the first hour of sequencing. This means that in many cases, surgeons had the genetic results as early as two hours after removing the tumor.
The cost for each test is around £400, similar to current methods, but with the advantage of providing more information in a single test. As we have highlighted in previous articles on diagnostic progress, diagnostic speed is becoming an increasingly crucial factor in the fight against cancer.
DNA testing and new therapeutic perspectives
The speed of DNA testing opens up completely new therapeutic scenarios. If the type of tumor is identified quickly and there are specific drugs that can be applied directly during surgery, targeted treatments could be tested in real time. Furthermore, Patients could access relevant clinical trials more quickly, accelerating access to innovative therapies.
The Nottingham team is working to extend this technology to other NHS Trusts across the UK. Simon Paine, a consulting neuropathologist, calls the method “an absolute breakthrough” that not only increases speed but also diagnostic accuracy.
The two-month wait for a brain tumor diagnosis may soon be a thing of the past. And this isn't just technological progress: it's real hope for thousands of patients who no longer have to live in uncertainty for weeks at a time, finally knowing that medicine can be as fast as their fears.
The study was published in the journal Neuro-Oncology .
