Simple new blood test for cancer detection developed

Researchers from Umea University in Sweden have developed a new blood test for cancer that could offer advantages over current diagnostic methods.

The new RNA test of blood platelets can be used to detect, classify and pinpoint the location of cancer by analysing a sample equivalent to one drop of blood. Using this method, researchers have been able to identify cancer with 96 per cent accuracy.

Blood samples from 283 individuals were studied, of which 228 people had some form of cancer. Among the 39 patients in the study in whom an early detection of cancer had been made, 100 per cent of the cases could be identified and classified.

In follow-up tests using the same method, researchers could identify the origin of tumours with an accuracy rate of 71 percent – an unsurpassed level of precision.

Jonas Nilsson, cancer researcher at Umea University and co-author of the article, said: "We have studied how a whole new blood-based method of biopsy can be used to detect cancer, which in the future renders an invasive cell tissue sample unnecessary in diagnosing lung cancer, for instance."