As many as 14 different cancers can be detected with one blood test, US researchers say in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.
Phillip Stafford of Arizona State University argues that the study detects tumors such as breast cancer, laryngeal cancer, multiple myeloma, and glioblastoma (a brain tumor) with 95 percent accuracy. Only in the case of pancreatic cancer, the reliability of the test does not exceed 80%, but it is still high.
The test only takes a blood sample, which is inserted into the apparatus that detects antibodies that indicate the development of cancer. They circulate in the blood and can be picked up by a device that contains proteins to which the cancer cells attach.
The camera has been tested so far on 120 Americans. Some already had cancer, as the researchers knew. The rest were healthy, at least no previous studies have shown that they are ill with cancer. The risk of a false positive, suggesting that a person is developing some kind of cancer, was estimated at only 2%.
Dr. Rienk Offringa from the German Cancer Center in Heidelberg says in a statement for the weekly “Spiegel” that blood tests are already so refined that they will soon be used in everyday medical practice. They should also be cheap to use. Thanks to them, it will be possible to regularly check for the presence of cancer. Their usefulness will be great when it is confirmed that they can detect neoplastic disease before its first symptoms appear. (PAP)