What is Cancer Monitoring? How Genetic Testing Helps Track Your Cancer Journey

After a Cancer diagnosis (การวินิจฉัยโรคมะเร็ง), the journey of care moves into a stage where continuous surveillance becomes essential. This process–known as cancer monitoring –helps clinicians observe how the disease progresses, evaluate the effectiveness of treatment, and detect signs of recurrence. Modern technology has expanded the monitoring toolkit, adding genetic and molecular analysis to complement conventional imaging and laboratory testing.

Unlike cancer screening, which is designed to detect disease in healthy, asymptomatic individuals, cancer monitoring focuses on the ongoing evaluation of patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer.  Through comprehensive genomic profiling and precision-medicine approaches, clinicians can obtain detailed information about the genetic alterations present in a patients tumor (ยีนกลายพันธุ์ในผู้ป่วยมะเร็ง). These molecular insights support a more individualized understanding of disease biology and help inform clinical decision-making when appropriate.

Understanding Cancer Monitoring vs. Cancer Screening

Although both approaches are important in oncology (มะเร็ง), they serve different purposes and address different populations.

What is Cancer Screening?

Cancer screening refers to tests performed in healthy, asymptomatic individuals to detect cancer at an early stage.
Screening methods may include:

• Imaging (e.g., mammography)
• Cytology-based assays (e.g., Pap tests)
• Laboratory-based screening programs
  

The goal is early detection, which is generally associated with more manageable treatment options. Screening tests are not used for individuals who already have a confirmed cancer diagnosis.

The Role of Cancer Monitoring

Cancer monitoring applies to patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer.
Its objectives include:

• Tracking the disease over time
• Evaluating treatment response
• Detecting recurrence
• Identifying new genetic changes that may influence clinical decision-making

This distinction is critical and aligns with medical advertising regulations: monitoring is part of ongoing clinical care, while screening targets healthy individuals.

Comprehensive Genomic Profiling in Cancer Monitoring

Comprehensive genomic profiling is an advanced laboratory method that uses Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) to analyze hundreds of cancer-related genes simultaneously from tumor tissue or blood.

What is Comprehensive Genomic Profiling?

Comprehensive Genomic Profiling or CGP can:

• Identify genetic mutations and alterations associated with cancer biology
• Provide molecular information that may support personalized clinical management
• Help track the genomic evolution of cancer over time
• Support the assessment of minimal residual disease (MRD) when clinically indicated

Results from CGP are supportive information and must be interpreted by a treating physician in conjunction with clinical findings, imaging, and histopathology. CGP is not a standalone diagnostic tool.

Benefits for Cancer Patients: 

Comprehensive genomic profiling provides clinicians with detailed molecular information that can support personalized clinical management in oncology. Such analysis may help:

• Identify specific mutations: Detecting genetic alterations that are associated with the tumors biology.
• Support targeted therapy selection: Offering molecular information that may help physicians consider therapies directed at particular genetic alterations when clinically appropriate.
• Monitor Disease Evolution: Observing changes in tumor-associated genetic markers over time, which can indicate shifts in disease behavior.
• Assess Minimal Residual Disease (MRD): Evaluating trace levels of tumor-derived genetic material when clinically indicated.
• Inform clinical decision-making: Providing supplementary molecular data to help clinicians integrate genomic, pathological, and clinical information (การรักษาโรคมะเร็ง).

Personalized Medicine Through Genetic Testing

Insights obtained from genomic profiling form an important foundation for personalized medicine, an approach that incorporates molecular, clinical, and environmental information to support more individualized decision-making in cancer care.

The Concept of Personalized Medicine

Personalized medicine represents an approach that moves away from uniform treatment strategies and instead incorporates an individuals genetic, biological, and environmental information into clinical decision-making. In oncology, this involves understanding the molecular characteristics of a patients tumor to support more individualized treatment planning. Precision medicine (การรักษามะเร็งแบบมุ่งเป้า) focuses on identifying specific molecular alterations that contribute to cancer development, enabling clinicians to consider interventions aligned with the tumors genomic profile.

How Genetic Testing Enables Personalization

Genetic testing serves as a tool for characterizing the molecular features of a tumor. By identifying unique genetic alterations, clinicians can evaluate potential therapeutic options that may align with those molecular findings. Ongoing monitoring through genomic analysis may also help clinicians observe treatment response and make adjustments as medically necessary. All clinical decisions must be guided by a licensed physician based on a comprehensive evaluation of the patients condition.

OncoPress: Advanced Genetic Testing for Cancer Monitoring

What is OncoPress?

OncoPress is a genomic analysis service developed for individuals who have already been diagnosed with cancer. Using NGS and targeted sequencing methods, the service examines a broad spectrum of cancer-related genes (การตรวจยีนมะเร็ง). The service is available in two packages:

• OncoPress Key: Analyzes 188 genes.
• OncoPress Premium: Extended analysis of 1,021 genes

OncoPress Monitoring Service

For ongoing assessment, the OncoPress Monitoring service analyzes tumor-associated genetic markers and may help evaluate minimal residual disease with high analytical sensitivity. A personalized panel is designed based on initial genomic findings, and results are typically reported within approximately 13 working days following the OncoPress Premium analysis. These findings are intended to supplement clinical evaluation for various types of solid tumors.

Who Should Consider OncoPress?

The OncoPress service is designed for individuals who:

• Have a confirmed cancer diagnosis
• Require molecular information to supplement their clinical management
• Are seeking additional genomic insights as part of a comprehensive clinical evaluation

This service is not intended for cancer screening and is not recommended for individuals without symptoms or a diagnosis.
For hereditary cancer risk assessment in healthy individuals, a dedicated hereditary testing service–such as SENTIS Hereditary Cancer Screening–should be used under physician guidance.

In cases where hereditary testing shows no germline variants but clinical examination reveals a suspicious mass, somatic mutation testing may be more appropriate, as it analyzes genetic changes that occur specifically within tumor tissue. 

OncoPress and other specialized genetic testing services, such as COLOTECT for colorectal cancer screening at Bangkok Genomics Innovation, may be suitable options for such cases, with the treating physician determining the most appropriate testing based on clinical findings.

The Importance of Ongoing Monitoring

Continuous monitoring is a recognized component of cancer care. It allows physicians to:

• Observe changes in disease activity
• Evaluate treatment response
• Detect signs of recurrence or progression
• Identify emerging genetic alterations that may drive resistance
• Adjust care strategies as needed

All monitoring decisions, including frequency and methodology, must be made by the patients oncologist based on clinical appropriateness.

Advancing Cancer Care Together

Cancer monitoring plays an increasingly important role in modern oncology. Comprehensive genomic profiling offers molecular information that can enhance understanding of disease characteristics and evolution. Services such as OncoPress are designed to provide clinicians with genomic insights that complement existing diagnostic, pathological, and clinical evaluations.

Individuals who are considering genetic testing for diagnosis or follow-up assessment should consult their healthcare providers to determine the most suitable options based on their specific medical context.

Bangkok Genomics Innovation Public Company Limited is a subsidiary of BGI Genomics established in Thailand in 2017. As a certified medical laboratory holding ISO15189, ISO15190, and ISO/IEC 27001:2022 standards from the British Standards Institution (BSI), we provide comprehensive genetic analysis services, including:

• Down syndrome screening for unborn babies during pregnancy
• Genetic carrier screening for individuals planning to have children or experiencing fertility challenges
• Cancer gene mutation analysis for personalized treatment drug selection
• Hereditary cancer risk gene screening
• Personalized genetic analysis for health planning and anti-aging strategies

Contact Us

Phone: 094 616 6878
Email: marketing@bangkokgenomics.com
Website: https://www.bangkokgenomics.com
Address: 3689 Rama IV Road, Phra Khanong, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110
Business Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM, Saturday 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM