Communications of the ACM
Blood Test That Finds 50 Types of Cancer Accurate Enough to Be Rolled Out
A simple blood test developed using a machine learning algorithm can detect more than 50 types of cancer before any clinical signs or symptoms of the disease emerge in a person.
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Researchers found that a blood test developed using a machine learning algorithm is accurate in detecting more than 50 types of cancer.
The test, which looks for changes in cell-free DNA shed by tumors into the bloodstream, was studied in 2,823 people with cancer and 1,254 people without; it accurately identifyied cancer at any stage in 51.5% of cases.
The false positive rate was just 0.5%, the researchers said.
The test was able to generate positive test results in 65.6% of cases involving solid tumors without screening options, twice as high as for solid tumors with screening options.
The tissue in which the cancer was located was accurately identified in 88.7% of cases.
Cleveland Clinic's Eric Klein said, "If used alongside existing screening tests, the multi-cancer detection test could have a profound impact on how cancer is detected and, ultimately, on public health."
From The Guardian (U.K.)
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Abstracts Copyright © 2021 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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