Study Shows Tumor Genetic Material Can Be Detected in Blood Three Years Prior to Cancer Diagnosis

A study has shown that “genetic material shed by tumors can be detected in the bloodstream three years prior to cancer diagnosis.”

The researchers “assessed plasma samples that were collected for the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, a large National Institutes of Health-funded study to investigate risk factors for heart attack, stroke, heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. They used highly accurate and sensitive sequencing techniques to analyze blood samples from 26 participants in the ARIC study who were diagnosed with cancer within six months after sample collection, and 26 from similar participants who were not diagnosed with cancer.”

Eight of the 52 participants “scored positively on a multicancer early detection (MCED) laboratory test. All eight were diagnosed within four months following blood collection. For six of the eight individuals, investigators also were able to assess additional blood samples collected 3.1–3.5 years prior to diagnosis, and in four of these cases, tumor-derived mutations could also be identified in samples taken at the earlier timepoint.”

The investigators were surprised at how early the cancers were being detected in this study. The lead authors touted the results as showing the promise of MCED tests, and early diagnosis could “help provide management with a more favorable outcome.”