24-hour cancer blood test could be a ‘game-changer’

A 24-hour cancer blood test could save patients the pain of not know their diagnoses for weeks and give patients better chances of survival.

British researchers hope the test, which identifies cancer-specific gene mutations, may eventually be available from GPs to provide a diagnosis within days.

Study leader and consultant thoracic surgeon Eric Lim said the test could also help patients to receive earlier treatment.

“The test is not an alternative to a biopsy for all patients, but when a blood test shows a positive result, this could mean a patient is saved from going through an unnecessary and invasive diagnostic procedure,” Dr Lim said. “It might also result in patients having earlier imaging scans and beginning treatment sooner.”

Biopsies are tissue samples that are often taken with a needle during a CT scan, and can lead to complications for a small number of patients.

The new blood test could be a less invasive, yet still accurate, method for a large number of patients with suspected cancer.

Patients with primary or secondary lung cancer were the focus of the study, which found they shared gene patterns that were common to patients with other forms of cancer, such as colorectal cancer, and suggested the blood test could be used to identify other cancers.

In an experiment, the test correctly identified mutations in seven out of 10 patients who were later confirmed to have lung cancer.

A negative result from the blood test would not completely rule out the presence of cancer cells, Dr Lim said.

With AAP.