New blood test detects 8 types of cancer

NEWDELHI: Scientists at Johns Hopkins University in the US have taken the first step towards a universal blood test for cancer by conducting trials of a non-invasive test that detects eight common types of the disease long before any symptoms arise.

The test called CancerSEEK, first reported in Science journal, detected cancers of the ovary, liver, stomach, pancreas, oesophagus, colorectum, lung and breast when it was applied to 1,005 patients already been diagnosed with the disease.

“CancerSEEK tests were positive in a median of 70% of the eight cancer types. The sensitivities ranged from 69% to 98% for the detection of five cancer types (ovary, liver, stomach, pancreas, and esophagus) for which there are no screening tests available for average-risk individuals,” Science reported. The test was also able to localise the cancer to a small number of anatomic sites in 83% of the patients, the report said.

Scientists are excited about the first non-invasive blood test that can simultaneously screen for a range of cancers but the researchers believe further studies are needed before CancerSEEK can be made widely available for its projected cost of less than $500.

Cristian Tomasetti from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine told the BBC: “This field of early detection is critical. I think this can have an enormous impact on cancer mortality.”

Finding tumours so that they could be surgically removed would be “a night and day difference” for survival, said Tomasetti.

CancerSEEK is now being tried on people who have not yet been diagnosed with cancer, which will be the real test of its usefulness. Researchers are hoping it can complement screening tools such as mammograms for breast cancer and colonoscopies for colorectal cancer.