Another blood test for cancer shows promise

Image courtesy Johns Hopkins – Credit: Elizabeth
Cook and Kaitlin Lindsay

CANCER DIGEST – Jan. 19, 2018 – A team of researchers have developed another blood test for cancer, which if confirmed in clinical trials, could identify eight cancer types from a single blood draw. 

The team at Johns Hopkins University of School of Medicine published its findings in the Jan. 18, 2018 journal Science. The test, called CancerSEEK simultaneously evaluates the levels of eight cancer proteins and the presence of cancer gene mutations from circulating DNA in the blood. Five of the cancers currently have no screening test.

New test predicts age of onset of aggressive prostate cancer

CANCER DIGEST – Jan. 13, 2018 – A new test based on genomic research combined with population research is able to predict the age of onset of aggressive prostate cancer, researchers say.

The tool is based on searches of individual genomes, the entire set of genes that make up an individual, for small variations, called single-nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs that occur more frequently in people with a particular disease compared to people without the disease.