A groundbreaking blood test has been developed that has the potential to detect 12 deadly cancers even before symptoms emerge. The UK government is prepared to finance this innovative test, which could revolutionize cancer treatment and significantly increase survival rates. The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, emphasised the transformative impact this ‘universal’ blood screening could have on cancer care within the next five years.
The test, known as the miONCO test, has been created by researchers at Southampton University by analysing data from 20,000 cancer patients. It boasts an impressive 99% accuracy rate and can identify a range of cancers at any stage, providing an early detection opportunity that could save thousands of lives annually. This test can not only detect 12 common cancers but also identify a total of 50 different types of cancer without yielding false positives.
Priced at £120, the miONCO test screens for prevalent cancers such as lung, breast, prostate, pancreatic, colorectal, ovarian, liver, brain, oesophageal, bladder, bone and soft tissue sarcoma, and gastric cancer. Professor Paul Skipp from Southampton University believes that this test could potentially save countless lives by detecting cancers at an early stage. The aim is to introduce this test to the NHS within the next five to seven years, with the government allocating £2.5 million towards its development through the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
The project’s scientists have established a startup company, Xgenera, to facilitate the distribution of the test, asserting that it holds the potential to save millions of lives worldwide. By refining the artificial intelligence that analyses test samples and biomarkers, using a diverse range of 8,000 blood samples, the next phase aims to enhance the test’s speed and affordability. Currently, NHS screening tests are limited to breast, bowel, cervical, and lung cancers, all of which involve scans or invasive biopsies with high false positive rates.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, a cancer survivor himself, is leading the charge in promoting this life-saving test and advancing cancer care in the UK. He emphasised the importance of early detection and the potential benefits of combining leading scientific expertise with the NHS’s capabilities to bring about a medical revolution. Streeting’s goal is to equip the NHS with cutting-edge technology, ensuring that advancements in cancer care benefit the wider population.
Through a 10-year plan for health, Streeting intends to overhaul the NHS and seize opportunities to enhance cancer care. The investment in the new blood test is viewed as the first step towards a brighter future in cancer detection and treatment, with the potential to significantly impact patient survival rates. Streeting’s dedication to improving cancer care is driven by his own experiences and underscores the importance of catching cancer early to improve outcomes for patients across the country.