Oxford: A new study suggests that a blood test can detect more than 50 types of cancer, speeding up the process of diagnosing the disease.
The study found that out of 6,238 people who were examined by the Journal Physician in Great Britain and Wales, 323 people had signs of cancer with the gallary test.
According to the researchers, 244 of those 323 patients were later diagnosed with cancer, a positive indication of the test’s accuracy.
The results of the research could mean that this blood test has the potential to speed up diagnosis by spotting signs of cancer in people.
The test correctly pinpointed the site of cancer in 85 percent of positive cases.
The test, tested by Oxford University researchers, found fragments of DNA from cancer tumors in the blood.
Some types of cancer start adding DNA to the blood before symptoms appear.
The test diagnosed 37 percent of bowel cancer, 22 percent of lung cancer, 8 percent of uterine cancer, 6 percent of esophageal cancer and 4 percent of ovarian cancer. However, the accuracy of the test depended on the stage of the cancer.
The test was 95 percent accurate in diagnosing late-stage cancers and 24 percent in early stages.
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