Ground work being done for universal blood test that can detect cancer in the Human Body.

A blood test for cancer gets a step closer

The noninvasive blood test was shown to detect the presence of common tumors of the ovary, liver, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, colorectum, lung and breast, according to a study published in the journal Science on Thursday. This blood test, called CancerSEEK, could cost less than $500, which is comparable to or lower than other screening tests, such as a colonoscopy, according to the study.

 From article, (Scientists have made progress on developing an experimental blood test that could detect many types of cancer in their early stages, and possibly even their locations in the body.

The noninvasive blood test was shown to detect the presence of common tumors of the ovary, liver, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, colorectum, lung and breast, according to a study published in the journal Science on Thursday.

This blood test, called CancerSEEK, could cost less than $500, which is comparable to or lower than other screening tests, such as a colonoscopy, according to the study. The study was funded by many foundations, research groups, and grants, while many of the study authors have ties to biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, as well as patents.

Yet as of now, the study only "lays the conceptual and practical foundation" for a cancer-screening blood test and much more research needs to be done before such a test could be widely used, the researchers wrote in the study.

the researchers evaluated levels of eight proteins and the presence of mutations in 2,001 genomic positions to detect signs of cancer.

The average sensitivity of the tests was 70% among the eight cancer types, researchers found. CancerSEEK was able to detect 98% of ovarian cancers, but when it came to the much more common breast cancer, the accuracy was significantly lower, at 33%.

The researchers also developed an algorithm to determine the source of the cancer identified in the positive tests, and they were able to localize the source to a single organ in an average of 63% of these patients.

The researchers also gave the test to 812 healthy patients and found that only seven of them resulted in a false-positive.)

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