New blood tests help detect 8 types of cancer

Scientists have developed one to help identify tumors very early, before patients develop symptoms.

According to The Guardian (UK) on January 19, this gave a positive result about 70% for the 8 most common cancers when tested in more than 1,000 patients.

In the future, such blood tests may be used in routine screening programs to significantly increase the proportion of patients treated early, at the time before cancer appears in the form of tests. usually, common, normal.

Scientists have just developed a blood test that helps detect cancer - (Photo: REX).

This blood test can also identify the type of cancer the patient has had - a goal that previous blood tests (to detect cancer) failed.

This new blood test works by detecting a floating, mutant DNA that is "released" by the dying cancer cells into the bloodstream. It scans for errors in 16 genes that are frequently mutated in different types of cancer.

The patients' blood was also tested to detect eight known types of protein "biomaker" , as these are "markers" seen at different levels, depending on where the tumor is in the body.

In blood samples from 1,005 patients, the test has detected 33 to 98% of cases. Ovarian cancer is most easily detected, followed by cancer of the liver, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, rectal, lung and breast.

For 5 types of cancer that cannot be screened - including ovarian, liver, stomach, pancreatic, and esophageal cancers, the sensitivity ranges from 69 to 98%.

When this blood test is evaluated on 812 healthy people, it only gives 7 false positive results.

The results of the study are published in the journal Science. The team hopes their achievements will help significantly reduce the cost of cancer patients.