Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr;124(9):1475-1477.
doi: 10.1038/s41416-020-01223-7. Epub 2021 Feb 9.

Transforming the landscape of early cancer detection using blood tests-Commentary on current methodologies and future prospects

Minetta C Liu  1
Affiliations

Transforming the landscape of early cancer detection using blood tests-Commentary on current methodologies and future prospects

Minetta C Liu. Br J Cancer. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Early cancer detection should lead to an overall stage shift, less-intensive treatments and better patient outcomes. Current recommended screening programmes are limited to a handful of individual cancers. A multi-cancer early detection test that simultaneously detects and localises multiple cancers could reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The Mayo Clinic was compensated for M.C.L.’s advisory board activities for GRAIL, Inc.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Attributes of multi-cancer detection methods.
MCED multi-cancer early detection, TOO tumour of origin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Liu MC, Oxnard GR, Klein EA, Swanton C, Seiden MV, CCGA Consortium. Sensitive and specific multi-cancer detection and localization using methylation signatures in cell-free DNA. Ann. Oncol. 2020;31:745–759. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2020.02.011. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lennon AM, Buchanan AH, Kinde I, Warren A, Honushefsky A, Cohain AT, et al. Feasibility of blood testing combined with PET-CT to screen for cancer and guide intervention. Science. 2020;369:eabb9601. doi: 10.1126/science.abb9601. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahlquist DA. Universal cancer screening: revolutionary, rational, and realizable. npj Precis. Oncol. 2018;2:23. doi: 10.1038/s41698-018-0066-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cescon DW, Bratman SV, Chan SM, Siu LL. Circulating tumor DNA and liquid biopsy in oncology. Nat. Cancer. 2020;1:276–290. doi: 10.1038/s43018-020-0043-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chen X, Gole J, Gore A, He Q, Lu M, Min J, et al. Non-invasive early detection of cancer four years before conventional diagnosis using a blood test. Nat. Commun. 2020;11:3475. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17316-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types