Is There a Blood Test for Cancer?

Cancer is one of the world's biggest killers, with more than 360,000 new cancer cases reported in the UK every year. Figures are on the rise, with Cancer Research UK predicting incidence rates for all cancers will rise by 2% between 2014 and 2035. This will see roughly 740 cases diagnosed per 100,000 people.

Early detection plays a critical role in survival rates, with around 70% of early stage lung cancer patients surviving for at least 12 months, compared to just 14% of those diagnosed with the most advanced stage of disease. Now, a team of oncologists from Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Institute is claiming to have developed liquid biopsy blood tests that can actively detect cancer during the early stages.  

The "holy grail of cancer research"

Pegged as the "holy grail of cancer research", the liquid biopsies can detect 10 different types of early stage cancer. They do this by harvesting tiny samples of DNA released by cancer cells into blood, then testing for signs of contamination.

The project analysed more than 1,600 people, including 749 cancer-free individuals and 878 newly diagnosed patients. In at least four out of five cases, the liquid biopsies were able to successfully detect pancreatic, ovarian, liver and gallbladder cancers. While success rates for lymphoma, myeloma, bowel cancer and lung cancer were slightly less, the success rates never dropped below 56%.

A universal cancer screening tool

The tests have already garnered positive results for ovarian and pancreatic cancers, with researchers hoping that with further clinical development the technique will emerge as a “universal screening” tool used by oncologists around the world.

“This is potentially the holy grail of cancer research, to find cancers that are currently hard to cure at an earlier stage when they are easier to cure,” asserts Dr Eric Klein, lead author of the research. “We hope this test could save many lives.”

A step forward for survival rates

The study, which was presented at Chicago's annual American Society of Clinical Oncologists conference, has already won praise from international health experts. Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England maintains that the revolutionary new cancer blood tests could "unlock enormous survival gains, as well as dramatic productivity benefits in the practice of medicine”.

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