A blood test for 50 types of cancer could speed up diagnosis

A blood test for more than 50 types of cancer could help to speed up the diagnosis of a given disease, which would also lead to faster implementation of appropriate therapy, is the conclusion of a new study by scientists from the University of Oxford.

The results of the liquid biopsy test, carried out within the British health system, were published at the world's largest cancer conference in the US and they showed that the "Galeri" blood test has the potential to detect whether a person has cancer or not, reports N1.

The test detects tiny fragments of tumor DNA in the bloodstream. It alerts doctors if a cancer signal has been detected and predicts where in the body the signal may have originated.

Experts reacted positively to the trial results, but said more research would be needed before the test, made by the California-based company Grail, could be introduced into healthcare systems.

The Simplify study, led by the University of Oxford, involved 5.461 people in England and Wales who were referred to hospital by their GP with suspected cancer. The results of the study were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

The test correctly detected two-thirds of cancers among study participants. In 85 percent of those positive cases, he was also able to determine the original site of the cancer. It was more accurate in older patients and those with advanced cancer, according to the trial results.

Mark Middleton, professor of experimental cancer medicine at Oxford, who led the trial, believes that the test could detect whether someone has cancer before there are clear symptoms, but also in cases where they exist, help to provide quick and accurate diagnoses of the disease, reports The Guardian.

The less time spent on diagnostics, the more time is left for the process of treating the disease.

Laurence Young, professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, urged caution, but added that "this is an important study that shows we are approaching an era when blood testing for cancer, along with other tests in symptomatic patients, could influence staging early diagnosis and significantly improve clinical outcome".

Dr Richard Lee, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said testing patients with symptoms potentially indicative of cancer could help enable faster diagnostic testing in those considered to be at high risk. "This could lead to an earlier diagnosis of cancer or a faster negative result for those without cancer," he added.

Professor Nicholas Turner, also from the Institute of Cancer Research, said the study provided valuable data which adds to the body of evidence that liquid biopsies could be used to diagnose cancer more quickly in symptomatic patients.

"It could be useful in the future to refer patients quickly to emergency clinics, especially in people where the imaging findings are uncertain," Turner said.

Dr David Crosby, head of research at Cancer Prevention and Early Detection UK, said: "The findings from the study show that this test could be used to support GPs to make clinical judgments, but much more research with larger numbers is needed people to see if this could improve GP assessments and ultimately patient outcomes".

Britain's National Health Service has also used the "Gallery" test on thousands of asymptomatic people to detect cancer. Results are expected later this year. If this research proves to be successful, the plan is to test another million people, reports City Magazine.