What is Somatic Testing?

Somatic testing studies the genes inside the tumor itself. The lab looks at DNA from cancer cells, not from normal cells. The goal is to see which changes drive tumor growth or treatment resistance. Somatic testing often uses tissue from a prostate biopsy or surgery. In some cases, a blood sample supplies tumor DNA which circulates in the bloodstream. Results show which gene changes sit inside the tumor. Those changes help your doctor choose treatments, match you to clinical trials, and understand how the cancer might behave. Somatic testing looks only at the tumor DNA, so results do not show whether family members face higher inherited risk.