Government to fund £120 blood test that could detect 12 most common cancers

‘Just a couple of drops of blood could tell you if you had lung, breast or bladder cancer, helping end month-long waits for tests and scans,’ said Wes Streeting. Photograph: Simon Dawson/PA

The government will provide funding for a £120 blood test that has the potential to detect the 12 most common forms of cancer before symptoms develop.

The Mionco screening can identify 50 cancers before producing a false positive and is a form of the PCR test used during the Covid pandemic, according to the scientists involved in its development.