GENE ONLINE|News &
Opinion
Blog

2021-07-01| Trials & Approvals

NHS To Trial GRAIL’s Blood Test That Can Accurately Detect Over 50 Cancers at Early Stages

by Sahana Shankar
Share To

Cancer is on its way to becoming the leading cause of mortality as a result of extended lifespan, lifestyle choices, and risk factors in the environment. Most cancers can be completely cured or well managed if detected early.

Studies suggest that when detected at early stages, patients with skin or breast cancer make a full recovery and have comparable survival with the general population. While screening tests are available for some cancer types like breast and prostate, there is a wide spectrum of malignant cancers that are routinely diagnosed in later stages. Research has shown that an early diagnosis of cancer improves prognosis and survival and remains a major challenge in many cancer types.

A new study, published in Annals of Oncology, reports a multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test that can accurately detect over 50 types of cancer which can be effective as preliminary screening of high-risk individuals for early diagnosis.

 

Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas

Previously, GRAIL Inc. established the Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas(CCGA) study as a multi-center, large-scale clinical study to develop a blood test for cancer detection, based on whole genome sequencing of circulating free DNA (cfDNA).

In the second substudy, published in Annals of Oncology in March 2020, sequencing results from cancer patients coupled with machine learning were used to train the algorithm to identify methylation patterns in various cancers, to improve sensitivity and accuracy of identifying cancer signatures and predicting cancer origin.

The current study validated the test as a cancer screening tool by comparing clinical samples from cancer and non-cancer participants.

 

MCED Test Registers High Sensitivity and Specificity

With over 4000 participants (2823 with cancer and 1254 without cancer), the primary aim of this clinical trial was to test the sensitivity, specificity and overall accuracy of the diagnostic test to predict cancer based on cancer signal detection and prediction of cancer origin tissue.  Based on the methylation profiles at key genomic loci, the test had

  1. Specificity of 99.5% to detect cancer signal
  2. Sensitivity of 76% in the pre-specified group of 12 cancers
  3. Overall sensitivity of 40% for all cancers in stages I-III and 52% for stages I-IV. 
  4. Overall accuracy of 88.7% to predict cancer origin
  5. Average test positive rate of 51% in clinical samples

All participants in this study were over 60 years old. Cancer screening is recommended for people over 50 to mitigate risks and detect warning signs. Taken together, these results suggest that this single blood test, when coupled with other screening tests, can significantly improve the early detection of many cancers at a population level.

Dr. Eric Klein, primary author and chairman of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, USA, said: “Finding cancer early, when treatment is more likely to be successful, is one of the most significant opportunities we have to reduce the burden of cancer. These data suggest that, 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.”

The study will continue to monitor the participants and collect additional information to ensure the suitability of the test as a screening tool for different populations. GRAIL has entered into a partnership with the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK to enroll more participants and further validate the test. The authors concede that this is a case-control study and may not behave similarly in the real world, more studies are underway to improve its performance and accuracy.

Related Article: A New Blood Test Aids in the Early Detection of Over 50 Cancers

 

©www.geneonline.com All rights reserved. Collaborate with us: [email protected]
Related Post
AACR Annual Meeting 2025: Cancer Research Innovations, NIH Funding Advocacy, and AI-Driven Advances
2025-04-28
The Latest Talk in Cancer Immunotherapy: A Brief Overview of Developments & Current Players in the Exosome Space
2025-04-23
From Cancer to Cosmetics, Physiological to Pathological – The Field of Exosomes Full of Endless Opportunities
2025-04-22
LATEST
AACR Annual Meeting 2025: Cancer Research Innovations, NIH Funding Advocacy, and AI-Driven Advances
2025-04-28
Senti Biosciences to Showcase New Cell & GeneTherapy Data at AACR Annual Meeting 2025
2025-04-27
World Vaccine Congress Washington 2025 Recap: Urgent Calls for Trust, Tech, and Global Access
2025-04-25
Astellas’ Transformation Journey: From Merger to Global Player, Betting on the Edge of Innovation and Risk?
2025-04-25
Roche Announces Massive 50 Billion Dollar Investment in the United States
2025-04-25
Steminent Stands Ready to Showcase Novel MSC-based Therapy for Spinocerebellar Ataxia at Global Stage
2025-04-24
Arkansas Medicaid Work Requirements Led to Coverage Loss for a Significant Number of Recipients
2025-04-24
EVENT
2025-04-25
AACR Annual Meeting 2025
Chicago, U.S.A
2025-05-03
29th Taiwan Joint Cancer Conference 2025
Taipei, Taiwan
2025-05-05
Swiss Biotech Day 2025
Basel, Switzerland
2025-05-13
ASGCT 28th Annual Meeting 2025
New Orleans, U.S.A.
2025-05-30
ASCO Annual Meeting 2025
Chicago, U.S.A
2025-06-11
ISSCR 2025 Annual Meeting
Hong Kong
Scroll to Top