'Revolutionary' blood test detects 50 types of cancer

A blood test that can detect more than 50 different types of cancer could speed up diagnosis, a study suggests.

- MARTHA MCHARDY

The Galleri test was able to detect signs of cancer in 323 out of the 6,238 people who had visited their GP with suspected symptoms, in England or Wales, the study showed. Of those 323 patients, 244 were subsequently diagnosed with cancer, giving a positive predictive accuracy of 75 per cent, the researchers said.

The findings could mean the blood test has the potential to spot and rule out cancer in people with symptoms, speeding up diagnosis. In 85 per cent of those positive cases, the test was able to pinpoint the original site of the cancer. The test, which is being trialled by researchers at the University of Oxford, detects fragments of tumour DNA in the bloodstream. Some cancer tumours are known to shed DNA into the blood a long time before a person would start experiencing symptoms.