The latest is the first testicular cancer blood test offered in the United States
An advanced test developed at UC San Diego Health can save lives and improve patient experiences by supporting more personalized and less-invasive treatment and surveillance options
UC San Diego Health is the first health system in the country to offer a new blood test for testicular cancer, a major advancement in the treatment and surveillance of patients with the disease.
Developed after a decade of research, the test addresses a critical diagnostic gap, providing physicians with a sensitive and specific biomarker that informs treatment plans to avoid both under- and over- treating the disease.
“This test represents a huge leap forward in our ability to diagnose, manage, and monitor our patients with testicular cancer,” said Aditya Bagrodia, MD, professor of urology at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and urologic oncologist at UC San Diego Health. “We talk to hundreds of doctors and patients looking for this kind of precision testing to inform care plans. We are so thrilled to be able to offer it to our patients and quickly expand availability to doctors across the country to help ease the uncertainty and fear of managing through this disease.”
“Developing this test in partnership with my colleagues represents years of dedicated work to bring a new form of personalized medicine to testicular cancer care.”
The new blood test is particularly helpful for guiding treatment and ongoing monitoring and is recommended for patients across the treatment journey. It has several important clinical applications:
- Pre-Surgery Confirmation: Physicians can obtain the test before testicular removal surgery to provide additional data supporting the surgical decision
- Treatment Guidance: The test can help determine which patients need chemotherapy or surgery and which could safely avoid it
- Early Recurrence Detection: Approximately one-third of patients experience cancer recurrence after testis removal despite clear CT scans; this blood test may help identify these cases earlier and enable less intensive intervention
- Surveillance Alternative: This blood test could potentially replace some CT scans during follow-up care, reducing patients’ exposure to ionizing radiation while also decreasing costs and patient anxiety
“This breakthrough represents the kind of investment in innovation that can save lives while improving quality of life for cancer survivors,” said Diane Simeone, MD, director of Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health.
“We regularly receive inquiries from patients all over the world and are thrilled we can now offer this advanced tool to help optimize outcomes for patients with testicular cancer.”
Testicular cancer affects approximately 10,000 people annually, primarily young men between ages 18 and 45. While most patients can go into remission through chemotherapy or surgery, about 500 patients die each year.
The test, which measures the biomarker microRNA-371a-3P, predicts the presence of testicular cancer cells with 90% accuracy. It is currently available to UC San Diego Health patients diagnosed with testicular cancer and will be expanding to accept external samples from other medical centers worldwide later this year.
The test is College of American Pathologists (CAP) and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified, indicating the highest levels of accuracy and reliability.
“This CAP and CLIA clinical validation process and test implementation allows us to translate years of research findings into clinical decisions that can genuinely help patients,” said Sarah Murray, PhD, who led the laboratory validation efforts and serves as director of medical genetics and genomics at UC San Diego Center for Advanced Laboratory Medicine, part of the Department of Pathology at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
“The rigorous standards we’ve met ensure that this test is reproducible, reliable and has analytic validity.”
The blood test findings will be integrated into comprehensive testicular cancer care plans established by the multidisciplinary molecular tumor board at UC San Diego Health, which meets every two weeks to review every test result and patient case to ensure the most effective treatment plan and highest level of patient safety.
