A blood test that can detect more than 50 different types of cancer has shown promise in a trial involving thousands of NHS patients, scientists have said. The Galleri test, which is currently available in the US, is also able to pinpoint where in the body the disease is coming from with 85% accuracy.
In the Symplify trial, the test was able to detect signs of cancer in 323 out of the 6,238 people who had visited their GP with suspected symptoms, in England or Wales. Of those 323 patients, 244 were subsequently diagnosed with cancer, giving a positive predictive accuracy of 75%, the researchers said.
Around 2% of patients with a negative result were found to have cancer. Overall, the test correctly revealed cancer 66% of the time.
