Scientists have a new blood test that could detect more than 20 types of cancer, allowing cases to be identified and treated far earlier. The test spots changes in the genes as disease develops. 99.4% of cases identified as cancer were correctly spotted...meaning only 0.6 percent of cases were misdiagnoses of healthy patients. The test was able to detect one third of patients with stage one disease and three quarters of those with stage two disease. The study found that the new method could even pinpoint the cancer source nearly 90 percent of the time, including diseases like ovarian and pancreatic disease, which are some of the most difficult to spot.
Study lead author - Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard of Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, part of Harvard Medical School
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