A simple blood test could be the answer to detecting cancer in the very early stages, new UK research has found.
The University of Nottingham and cancer detection technology company Oncimmune have developed a blood test that can assist in the detection of cancer up to four years earlier than current testing methods, such as mammography and CT scans.
The discovery, which is based on the work of University of Nottingham breast cancer specialist Professor John Robertson, also means that doctors will receive test results quicker.
The blood test research was carried out on a group of women in the UK with high-risk breast cancer and confirmed the success of the new technology.
The research found the condition in more than half of these high-risk cancer patients could have been detected in blood samples taken up to four years earlier, well before being later diagnosed by other methods.
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The new blood test will not only allow the early detection of cancer but may change the diagnosis and treatment of solid cancers like lung, breast, ovarian, colon and prostate cancer.
A test for lung cancer using the technology will be launched in the US this month followed by a launch in the UK early next year.
UPDATE: Following testing of the technology, Executive Chairman of Oncimmune Geoffrey Hamilton-Fairley says there are plans to implement it world-wide in 2011.
“We plan to start rolling the test out on a worldwide basis in 2011,” he told Woman’s Day.
“We are asking parties interested in being our distributor or partner in each territory to contact us now.”
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