Blood test for early detection of 8 cancers looks promising

This page is an archive. Its content may no longer be accurate and was last updated on the original publication date. It is intended for reference and as a historical record only. For hep C questions, call Help4Hep BC at 1-888-411-7578.

Test includes some of the most deadly cancers currently lacking screening tools.

Scientists are reporting progress on a blood test to detect many types of cancer at an early stage, including some of the most deadly ones that lack screening tools now.

Many groups are working on liquid biopsy tests, which look for DNA and other things that tumours shed into blood, to try to find cancer before it spreads, when chances of a cure are best.

In a study Thursday in the journal Science, Johns Hopkins University scientists looked to see how well their experimental test detected cancer in people already known to have the disease. The blood tests found about 70 per cent of eight common types of cancer in the 1,005 patients. The rates varied depending on the type — lower for breast tumours but high for ovarian, liver and pancreatic ones.