A blood test can detect signs of cancer four years before symptoms appear, a new “exciting” study led by Chinese researchers found.
The noninvasive blood test, called PanSeer, detects cancer in 95 percent of people who have no symptoms but then receive a diagnosis, the researchers found.
“We demonstrated that five types of cancer can be detected by a blood test based on DNA methylation up to four years before conventional diagnosis,” the team wrote in the journal Nature Communications.
The tests, known as liquid biopsies, are likely unable to predict patients who will later develop cancer, but can identify those with existing cancerous growths that have not yet been detected by other screening methods.
Researchers say the test relies on detecting DNA found in blood plasma to detect labels called methyl groups that tend to appear in tumors, according to The Guardian.
The team used blood plasma samples collected from people in China between 2007 and 2014.
While this is not the first time that research indicates that a blood test can aid in early detection of cancer, the team told the store that, unlike many other studies, it shows that cancers can be detected. before patients seem to show symptoms. .
Dr. Eric Klein of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute told the Guardian that the study is a step in the right direction.
“This is an exciting study that provides further confirmation that methylation-based assays can detect cell-free circulating tumor DNA and can form the basis for new screening tests that detect cancer in the early stages,” he said. “There is a need for such tests to detect cancers for which there are currently no effective detection paradigms.”
The Chinese study has limitations, including relatively small sample size, inadequate storage, and concerns about possible contamination, according to the report.
The test also does not have the ability to identify the type of cancer a person has.
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