Blood test detects cancer 3 years before the disease develops

Research recently published in the medical journal Cancer Discovery has found that tiny pieces of genetic material shed by tumours can be found in the blood as early as three years before a person is diagnosed with cancer.

This is a new discovery by researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital (USA), experts from the Ludwig Center for Cancer Research, Kimmel Cancer Center, Bloomberg School of Public Health (USA). The test is called the multiple cancer early detection blood test (abbreviated as MCED test).

Lead author Dr Yuxuan Wang, of Johns Hopkins Hospital, said they were surprised to find cancer mutations in blood samples so early. Three years earlier is long enough to intervene. Tumors are less advanced and more likely to be cured.

Blood test detects cancer 3 years before the disease develops

Illustration: AI

In an effort to find a way to detect cancer early before clinical signs or symptoms appear, Dr. Wang and his team analyzed plasma samples collected for a large study funded by the US National Institutes of Health to investigate risk factors for heart attack, stroke, heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases.

Researchers used highly accurate and sensitive sequencing techniques to analyze blood samples from 26 participants diagnosed with cancer within 6 months of testing and 26 participants without cancer.

Cancer detected in blood sample taken 3.1 - 3.5 years ago

At the time of blood sampling, eight of the 52 participants tested positive for MCED. All eight were diagnosed with cancer within four months of testing.

Of these eight, six still had blood samples collected 3.1 to 3.5 years before they developed cancer. Remarkably, when these blood samples were analyzed, the results were astonishing – in four cases, the authors found cancerous tumor mutations in the blood samples taken at that very early time – that is, 3.1 to 3.5 years before the first symptoms appeared.

Detecting cancer years before clinical diagnosis could make treatment much more likely, added study co-author Dr. Nickolas Papadopoulos, of the Ludwig Cancer Center.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xet-nghiem-mau-phat-hien-ung-thu-3-nam-truoc-khi-phat-benh-185250612230752155.htm