New Blood Tests Promise Simple Cancer Detection
BERLIN (Reuters) - Two new blood tests could help doctors detect colon and stomach cancers simply, cheaply and early without the need for invasive procedures or unpleasant examinations, researchers said on Monday.
The tests, one developed by the Belgian biotech firm OncoMethylome and another by scientists in Germany, use blood samples to detect specific genetic signals of the disease and could help predict whether it is likely to spread.
Ernst Kuipers, a specialist in bowel cancer at Rotterdam's Erasmus University, who was not involved in the research, said the new tests marked a promising advance in the field of developing more convenient screening.
"The blood sample can be taken by nurses or primary care doctors without the need for special equipment or training," Joost Louwagie of OncoMethylome said.
Ulrike Stein, who presented her findings with Louwagie's at the ECCO-ESMO European cancer congress in Berlin, said hers was the first test to be able to detect signals of a specific gene, called S100A4 and known to be linked to cancer, in the blood.
Stein's test finds various types of cancer, including colorectal and gastric cancers, and had also shown potential in identifying patients whose cancer was likely to spread.
"Cancer patients have significantly higher levels of this S100A4 gene than people without cancer," she said. "Being able to detect this gene in the blood of the patient, you can monitor the disease course and you can continue to monitor it over several years and throughout various treatments."
Colorectal cancer effects around one in every 17 people and is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States and Europe, where a total of 560,000 people develop the disease each year, and 250,000 die from it.
Deaths can be reduced if the cancer is diagnosed early, when it is most treatable.
Although current tests such as a colonoscopy internal examination or the analysis of stool samples are effective, they can be invasive, expensive and unpleasant.
