Breakthrough blood test could spot dozens of cancers before symptoms appear

A new type of blood test could help detect multiple cancers early.

A team of researchers in California studied a new multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test called Galleri, which can reportedly detect more than 50 types of disease.

The study analyzed about 23,161 participants 50 years of age and older across the U.S. and Canada who did not have any symptoms.

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These participants underwent standard screenings recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for certain cancers, including breast, cervical, colorectal and lung. 

They also took the Galleri blood test, which is made by Grail, Inc., a biotechnology company based in Menlo Park, California.

The researchers compared the standard screenings alone to the standard screenings plus the blood test. 

Out of the more than 23,000 people sampled, the Galleri test detected a cancer signal in 216 of them, 133 of whom were confirmed to have the disease.

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This means there was a 61.6% chance that someone with a positive Galleri test actually had cancer. The false positive rate was “very low” at about 0.4%, according to the researchers.

More than half (53.5%) of Galleri-detected cancers were stage 1 or 2, while 69.3% were stage 1 or 2.

The results showed that about three-quarters of the cancers identified in the trial group do not currently have standard screening options in the U.S.

There was a 61.6% chance that someone with a positive Galleri test actually had cancer.

The study also found that cancer detection increased more than seven times when the Galleri blood test was combined with standard screening.

Study investigator Nima Nabavizadeh, M.D., associate professor of radiation medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, stated in an interview with Fox News Digital how he was “incredibly encouraged” by these findings and what they may mean for filling unmet screening needs and detecting cancer early.

The results suggest a positive test should be “taken seriously,” the researcher reiterated. The experimental blood test was able to accurately pinpoint which organ the cancer was coming from 92% of the time, he added.

Josh Ofman, M.D., president of the drugmaker GRAIL, commented in a press release that adding Galleri to standard screening can help target new cancers in early stages, as most deadly cancers are found “too late.”

“Galleri’s ability to accurately predict where in the body the cancer signal comes from also helps to guide a more efficient diagnostic workup,” he said. “Galleri is the only MCED (multi-cancer early detection) test available that has been validated in an interventional trial in the screening population and could transform how we deliver cancer screening at a population level.”

Promising, but not a replacement

Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier, an associate attending of radiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and director of breast imaging in Monmouth, New Jersey, reacted to these findings in an interview with Fox News Digital.

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Saphier, who was not involved in the study, emphasized how early detection saves lives while lowering the overall cost of cancer care by finding the disease when it’s most treatable.

“[This] allows patients to live longer, healthier and more productive lives,” she said.

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Saphier commented that the multi-cancer blood test adds a “promising new layer to existing tools for breast, cervical, colorectal and lung cancer screening, potentially catching cancers that standard tests may miss.”

While it shows promise, however, this new test is meant to complement, not replace, the currently available screenings, the expert added.

“Thoughtful, evidence-based integration will be key to ensuring that it improves outcomes without adding unnecessary cost or confusion,” she said. 

“As cancers rise among younger people, the question now is whether we should broaden screening ages and if this blood test could play a role in that shift.”

“As cancers rise among younger people, the question now is whether we should broaden screening ages and if this blood test could play a role in that shift.”

The study also does not directly compare the Galleri test to a control group that did not receive the test in the same setting and conditions, which makes it difficult to determine the full benefit of the test.

The press release states: “Test performance metrics do not represent results of a head-to-head comparative study.”

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As this trial was an initial analysis with a short one-year follow-up, study lead Nabavizadeh suggested that a more complete analysis of the study’s full 35,000 participants will take place in the future.

“Also, we are anxiously awaiting the results of the randomized NHS-Galleri test to provide additional clinical utility data as compared to standard of care screening alone,” he shared.