Potentially, the new method will be able to detect 50 types of malignant tumors. England’s National Health Service announced Monday that it will begin a large-scale trial of a new method for early diagnosis of more than 50 types of cancer. It is hoped that a blood test will be able to detect the presence of the disease before a person develops symptoms.
The two-year study will involve 140,000 volunteers between the ages of 50 and 77. They will take blood samples from them and then invite them to take repeat tests after one year and after two years. The test will be applied to only half of the blood samples initially collected – the other half will form a control group to check the effectiveness of the test. “The test could revolutionize cancer diagnostics,” said program director Professor Peter Sasieni, a professor of oncology at the Royal College in London. “We are eager to get started.”
When cancer is detected at an early stage, the chances of a cure are greatly increased. Currently, cancer is diagnosed by taking a tissue sample for biochemical analysis (biopsy). This is a complex procedure in some cases, especially for lung, bladder and prostate cancer, and it is not known where to look.
The new method is based on the detection of DNA fragments from cancer cells in the blood. It was developed by the biotechnology startup Grail, which was founded in San Francisco in 2015 specifically for the development of early cancer diagnosis methods. It was recently acquired by the American pharmaceutical company Illumina Inc. for $1.7 billion. The test itself is called Galleri. In the United States, it is offered to patients at high risk for cancer, especially those over the age of 50. It has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, so most insurance companies do not cover it.
“The search for cancer diagnostic technologies based on blood tests is ongoing worldwide, but until now it has been in the research phase. Now, with our partners, we are embarking on a major trial, the largest in history. The new method is particularly promising for diagnosing cancers that do not show obvious signs and symptoms for a long time,” said Callie Palmer, BBC Director of Oncology at the National Health Service.
The most common cancer in the UK is lung cancer, which accounts for 20% of all deaths. Malignant tumours of the lung, bladder, prostate and breast together account for 45% of deaths.