UK and US collaborate on new cancer detection blood test

Researchers in the UK and the US have developed a blood test that can detect different types of cancer, even before any clinical signs or symptoms develop in some cases.
The study tested for in excess of 50 types of cancer in the blood of over 4,000 people, around 50% of whom had cancer. It works by detecting and isolating cell-free DNA from the blood sample and sequencing it to find the methylated parts. The results are entered into a computer that can recognize DNA from cancer and non-cancer cells, and can then predict whether a person has cancer, and possibly what type of cancer. Not only was the test accurate in 93% of the samples, it was also able to accurately predict where in the body the cancer first developed in 96% of the samples. The study included 12 of the most dangerous types of cancer, which account for more than 60% of all annual cancer-related deaths in the U.S., and accurately detected over 67% of them. The false positive rate was just 0.7%, and further research is being conducted on a larger scale.
Prof. Fabrice André, editor-in-chief of Annals of Oncology, publisher of the report, said: “This is a landmark study and a first step toward the development of easy-to-perform screening tools. Earlier detection of more than 50% of cancers could save millions of lives every year worldwide and could dramatically reduce morbidity induced by aggressive treatments.”
Dr. Michael Seiden, senior study author, said: “These data support the ability of this targeted methylation test to meet what we believe are the fundamental requirements for a multi-cancer early detection blood test that could be used for population-level screening and have ability to detect multiple deadly cancer types with a single test that has a very low false positive rate, and the ability to identify where in the body the cancer is located with high accuracy to help healthcare providers to direct next steps for diagnosis and care.”