'Holy grail' blood test for more than 50 cancers delivers 'exciting' results

The test works by identifying DNA in the bloodstream that has been shed by cancer cells, giving the earliest signs somebody may have the disease.

A blood test that screens for more than 50 cancers is correct in 62% of cases where it thinks people may have the disease, a study has found.

The Galleri test, which can be given annually, looks for the "fingerprint" of dozens of deadly cancers, often picking up signs before symptoms even appear.

It works by identifying DNA in the bloodstream that has been shed by cancer cells, giving the earliest signs somebody may have the disease.

Now, a key US trial on the test has shown that Galleri is highly accurate in ruling out cancer in people without the disease, while also picking up cancer cases at an early stage, when the disease is more treatable.

Of those people found to have a "cancer signal" detected in their blood, 61.6% went on to be diagnosed with cancer, the findings of the Pathfinder 2 study showed.

And in 92% of cases, the test could pinpoint in which organ or tissue the cancer arose, meaning time and money could be saved on other scans and other tests.

More than half (53.5%) of the new cancers detected by Galleri in the study were the earliest stage I or II, while more than two-thirds (69.3%) were detected at stages I-III.

Galleri, which has been dubbed the holy grail of cancer tests, also correctly ruled out cancer in 99.6% of people who did not have the disease.

The findings are being presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Berlin.

'Very excited'

Harpal Kumar, president of International Business and BioPharma at Grail, which pioneered Galleri said the findings are impressive.

"We're really very excited and we think this is a further step along the way in really transforming cancer outcomes."

The Pathfinder 2 study looked at how the Galleri test may be used in a real-world setting, alongside regular screening programmes for things like breast and bowel cancer.

People from the US and Canada with no symptoms were recruited, of which 23,161 were analysed and had a follow-up period of at least 12 months.

The results suggested that adding Galleri to regular cancer screening led to a more than seven-fold increase in the number of cancers found within a year.

The test detected a cancer signal in 216 people, and cancer was diagnosed in 133 of these.

Therefore, the likelihood of receiving a cancer diagnosis following a positive test result showing a "cancer signal" was 61.6%.

Mr Kumar: "One of the most important and exciting results is the fact that it detected seven times as many cancers as the other screening programmes put together."