At Johns Hopkins University, researchers found a way to detect cancer from a blood analysis long before symptoms appear. The test records minute fragments of tumor DNA that enter the bloodstream even before visible signs of the disease develop. In some patients, such changes were detected more than three years before a diagnosis.
The new approach could form the basis of multi-cancer tests that identify several types of cancer from a single blood sample, without waiting for the disease to show itself. This gives patients a chance to find cancer at a stage when treatment is most effective.
This technology opens truly new horizons for personalized medicine in the future. When these tests become part of regular checkups, cancer care could be carried out on time and with better chances of success.
