Oncologists understand that the early detection of cancer with a simple blood test opens a new era of screening for the presence of the disease and improving cancer mortality rates, as well as morbidity, but not incidence.
A blood test can detect up to 50 types of cancer in people not yet diagnosed and without symptoms of the disease, according to research presented this Monday, September 12, at the Congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology, in Paris. .
The study, coordinated by oncologist Deborah Schrag, presents itself as a pioneer in the early diagnosis of cancer, through a test that detects if there is a presence in the blood of circulating tumor DNA, derived from the tumor and present in the bloodstream even before there are signs of the disease in patients.
The research, carried out by oncologists at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, bases its results on a blood test performed on 6,621 people over the age of 50 without a diagnosis of cancer or symptoms of the disease.
Practically 99% of the universe tested was negative, that is, they had no signs of cancer, while in 1.4% signs of the disease were detected. Even so, among these 1.4%, only 38% had the diagnosis confirmed in a subsequent test.
With these results, oncologists understand that the early detection of cancer with a simple blood test opens a new era to detect the presence of the disease and improve cancer mortality rates, as well as morbidity, but not incidence.
They argue that 38% of positive results in those patients is a “good” percentage and an important step towards early detection with this tool, while the fact that the test is able to detect 99% of negative results implies an “excellent” rate and demonstrates the ability of the test to rule out the presence of the tumor.
Read more in Delas
