Blood test can ID cancers without clear symptoms

Blood test can ID cancers without clear symptoms

 According to a new study, a quick blood test can help screen for malignancies, often catching the condition before any overt symptoms appear.

The outcomes of the GRAIL Pathfinder research, which identifies tumors in their earliest stages, demonstrate the potential of what is known as multi-cancer early detection screening.

The PATHFINDER project is a fascinating first step toward a major transformation in the method of cancer detection. According to Deb Schrage, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the study "demonstrated the viability of this paradigm and solid test performance."

This study offers a glimpse of what the future may bring: the possibility of screening using blood tests to identify various types of cancers at their earliest and most treatable stages. "Although continued public health efforts to optimize adherence to existing screening strategies that have been proven effective are critical, this study provides a glimpse of what may hold."

The blood of 6,662 participants in the study who were 50 years of age or older was examined for what GRAIL refers to as cancer signs, which were discovered in 92 participants. 35 of them had 36 malignancies identified as their disease. The Cancer Treatment Centers of America state that cancer cells emit signals to control growth or start apoptosis, or cell death.

According to Jeffrey Enstrom, MD, chief medical officer at GRAIL, "When coupled to standard-of-care screening, MCED testing more than doubled the number of tumors discovered compared to standard screening alone."

The Galleria test, a blood sample collection procedure, has been praised as a "game changer" by the National Health Service in England, which is doing its own experiment.

The blood test can also help doctors confirm a diagnosis more rapidly by indicating where in the body the cancer is most likely to have started. For the first time, Galleria test findings were forwarded to healthcare professionals in the Pathfinder research to aid in further diagnostic work.

Nearly half of the confirmed malignancies in the research were in Stage I or Stage II, and 71% were cancer forms for which there is presently no common screening test. Only 1% of study participants had a false positive result.

The study's findings were presented over the weekend in Paris at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress. For its Pathfinder 2 project, which will track people for three years, GRAIL is presently accepting participants.

"This investigation served as a preliminary to a bigger study. According to Cancer Network, Schrage said at the conference in Paris, "We needed to observe how doctors would approach workup, what diagnostic odysseys we'd send patients down, and whether they'd be upset. "People were feeling a little uneasy, but it was only momentary and controllable. People were a little nervous because they recognized the implications of the test, but they handled it extremely well.