A new blood test was able to find more than 50 cancer types across different stages and the locations of these cancer types in the body, according to a recent study published in Annals of Oncology.
Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) sequencing leveraging informative methylation patterns was utilized to detect these cancer types. The test identified some dangerous cancer types that lack effective standard screening approaches. The early detection of some of these cancer types is often critical to treatment success for patients.
“Our results show that this approach to testing cell-free DNA in blood can detect a broad range of cancer types at virtually any stage of the disease, with specificity and sensitivity approaching the level needed for population-level screening,” co-lead author of the study Geoffrey Oxnard, MD, said in a press release. “The test can be an important part of clinical…