In addition to helping analyze the 75,000 new cases diagnosed in the United States annually, the DNA test mentioned above may also be useful in monitoring over 300,000 former patients against a recurrence. A different lymphoma test is also in early clinical trials. Other diagnostic tests now in development include those for ovarian, liver, breast, and lung cancers. Working out definitive tests can be frustratingly slow because the development of some cancers is so complex. Certain chemicals can both promote and inhibit tumors, depending on the circumstances, so their presence when detected requires painstaking analysis.
Some monoclonal antibodies go beyond improved detection.
For instance, Pap tests are effective in diagnosing early cancer of the uterine cervix, but they cannot distinguish those patients likely to relapse into a more serious form of the disease after surgery. Some 15 to 20 percent of women treated for local cervical cancers fall into this category. French researchers have found that half of cervical cancer patients with high levels of a particular oncogene are disposed to a recurrence of the disease. A MAb test being developed there may help to distinguish such women early on. These women can then be offered more intense alternative treatments than usually required by other patients, hopefully heading off the need for surgery later.