Gallery test detects DNA fragments left behind by cancer cells in blood.
A blood test designed to diagnose more than 50 types of cancer (currently being tested by the NHS) has correctly diagnosed around two-thirds of cases.
The Gallery test (which can be done on an annual basis) detects DNA fragments left behind by cancer cells in the blood and can often detect the disease before symptoms appear.
The US trial, called Pathfinder 2, showed that the blood test was effective in reducing the risk of cancer in healthy people and in diagnosing it at an early stage.
The trial identified symptoms in 61.6% of the people who took part in the trial (who had ‘some sign of cancer’ in their blood).
The test identified the primary cancer organ or tissue in 92 percent of cases in the trial, saving time and resources for further diagnostic workup.
More than half (53.5 percent) of the new cancer cases diagnosed in the trial were stages 1 and 2, while more than two-thirds (69.3 percent) of the cases diagnosed were stages 1 to 3.
