Researchers develop test that could detect cancer before symptoms starts

A new blood test that could detect cancer before patients even begin to show symptoms have been developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the United States of America (USA).

The life-changing test could revolutionize cancer prevention and could be a breakthrough for cancer patients worldwide.

The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, said it detected cancer in the majority of people with breast, colon, lung, and ovarian cancer.

The test found cancer in the blood of more than half the patients who had been diagnosed with stage one disease and was even more accurate in finding late-stage cancers.

It caught cancer in 45 percent of lung cancer patients, 67 percent of ovarian cancer patients, and 67 percent of breast cancer patients, all of whom were in the earliest stages of their disease.

The researchers said there were no false positives in 44 people who did not have cancer.

The Johns Hopkins team developed the test using a method called targeted error correction sequencing. They examined 58 cancer-related genes and identified certain mutations that were markers for cancer. The blood test would, in turn, detect those mutations in prospective patients.

However, the team says that the test needs to be improved for accuracy and scope of detection.

Dr. Wyndham Wilson of the National Cancer Institute said avoiding inaccurate results is essential to the future of cancer detection. Early-stage tumors or precancerous growths can sometimes simply vanish, for a variety of unknown reasons.

“You don’t want to go screening people for hallmark (cancer) mutations unless you absolutely know that when you find it, that there is a tumor there and that it is a tumor that needs to be treated,” said Wyndam, who was not involved in the study.