Results from a pilot study led by New York City-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center suggest that a single blood test may be able to detect the presence of 50 different cancer types, according to an Oct. 13 news release.
The test's aim is to provide more options for early cancer detection, with the hope of improving patient outcomes. It works by analyzing the DNA that cancer cells shed into the bloodstream and looking for "telltale genetic 'cancer signals,'" the release states.
The study, which was published Oct. 7 in The Lancet, was tested on blood samples from 6,600 patients who did not have any symptoms of cancer. In 92 of those individuals, the test detected early cancer signals.
"The blood test is not definitive that someone has cancer," Deb Schrag, MD, chair of the department of medicine at the cancer center and lead author on the study stated in the release. "The test identifies people for further diagnostic evaluation. About 1 in 3 whose screening test was positive were ultimately confirmed to have a cancer."
Further research, Dr. Schrag noted, should focus on whether the blood test as a form of cancer screening will be able to translate into "meaningful clinical benefits."