New simple blood test detects cancers among over-50s

A simple blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer before any clinical signs or symptoms of the disease is accurate enough to be rolled out as a multi-cancer screening test, according to scientists.

The test, which is also being piloted by NHS England, is aimed at people at higher risk of the disease, including patients aged 50 years or older.

It is able to identify many types of cancer that are difficult to diagnose early, such as head and neck, ovarian, pancreatic, oesophageal and some blood cancers.

Scientists said their findings, published in the journal annals of oncology, shows the test accurately detects cancer, often before any signs or symptoms, while having a very low false-positive rate.

Scientists investigated the performance of the test in 3,537 people – 2,823 people with cancer and 1,254 people without.

It correctly identified when cancer was present in 51.5% of cases, across all stages of the disease, and wrongly detected cancer in only 0.5% of cases.