Study: New Blood Protein Test Could Detect 18 Types of Cancer

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Facts

  • Researchers at the US biotech firm Novelna have created a blood protein test that can identify 18 early-stage cancers. While blood tests have been used previously for monitoring and early detection, experts say this test could potentially be a 'game changer,' with 93% accuracy in males and 84% accuracy in females.1
  • The study, which tested the blood of 440 cancer patients and 44 healthy people, also found that cancer protein signals were potentially gender-specific, which the researchers believe could lead to separate tests for males and females. It's also said to be more sensitive than the Galleri test, which is being tested by the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and uses cancer DNA in the blood to detect 50 cancers.2
  • The team also said their 'localization panels consisted of 150 proteins and were able to identify the tissue of origin of most cancers in more than 80% of cases.' After finding that almost all the plasma protein levels were low, the team also concluded that it's important to focus on low-level proteins to uncover precancerous and early-stage tumors before they cause significant damage.1
  • While the researchers are hopeful that their findings could 're-shape screening guidelines,' they also acknowledged that it was based on a small sample size, which means more studies consisting of larger groups of people will be necessary.3
  • One skeptic, Dr. Holli Loomans-Kropp of Ohio State University, also noted that there are 'several problems' that need to be addressed before such early detection screenings can reach the wider public.2

Sources: 1Guardian, 2The Telegraph and 3BMJ Oncology.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Novelna. The results of this study show that Novelna has created the ultimate breakthrough cancer diagnostic test. Not only does it offer more than 80% accuracy, but it will be 90% more affordable than other cancer test products. The average person who typically has to dig deep into their pocket just to know if they're sick may soon have easy access to life-saving diagnostics.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Nature. While diagnostic tests have undoubtedly gained more popularity and shown significant progress in recent years, societal views on whether or not to get tested are still holding back certain countries from reaping the benefits of these scientific achievements. In the UK, for instance, the general public still worries about wasting their general practitioner's time, which leads to later diagnoses and worse health outcomes.

Predictions