‘It’s the holy grail’: Researchers hail new cancer blood test

Researchers are hailing a new blood test as the “holy grail” of cancer treatment after successful trials showed it can detect some early stage cancers with up to 90 per cent accuracy.

A research team from American company Grail, which is backed by Microsoft leader Bill Gates, developed the test in the hopes of increasing early detection across a range of cancers, and ultimately saving lives through early intervention and treatment.

Their findings were published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and according to The Times, successfully used a single drop of blood to “pick out nine ­tumour types in tests on 878 cancer patients and 749 healthy control subjects”.

According to The Times report, the test can identify ovarian cancer with 90 per cent accuracy; liver and pancreas cancer with 80 per cent accuracy; and lung cancer with 59 per cent accuracy.

The results are particularly encouraging because all four of these cancers are usually diagnosed at a later stage when they have progressed beyond the possibility of a positive treatment outcome.

Eric Klein, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, who carried out the research, told The Times they needed to do further trails to improve the blood test’s accuracy and to ensure patients weren’t misdiagnosed as false positives.

“This is potentially the holy grail of cancer research, to find cancers that are hard to cure at an earlier stage when they are easier to cure,” he said. “We hope this test could save many lives.”

The research team added in their study notes: “Globally most cancers are detected at advanced stages with high treatment burden and low cure rates. A non-invasive cfDNA blood test detecting multiple cancers at early stages when curative treatment is more likely to succeed is desirable.”

It’s the latest in a series of big cancer breakthroughs in recent months. Earlier this year, researchers decoded an enzyme known as telomerase, which could lead to drugs that slow down the ageing process, and new treatments for cancer.

Read more: Enzyme to slow down ageing and treat cancer

The enzyme has long been a mystery due to its complicated makeup, but the team, from the University of California in Berkley, finally concluded their 20-year investigation into the enzyme and put an end to much of the guesswork for pharmacists trying to find new cancer-fighting drugs.

Telomeres are essential parts of human cells and, similar to the plastic tips at the end of shoelaces, they act like a cap at the end of each strand of DNA to protect the chromosomes. They were first discovered in the 1970s by Australian-American biologist Elizabeth Blackburn, but until now researchers have struggled to understand exactly how they work and how they can control their structure.

Read more: At-home chemo is changing the lives of Aussies fighting cancer

Now they’ve decoded the enzyme, researchers hope they’ll be able to reverse its deteriorating effects to help repair the cells and use similar techniques to fight cancer.

Have you or someone you know had cancer? Do you think more focus and money should be spent on cancer research?