A new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers found a way to uncover genetic material from cancer years before the cancer is diagnosed, according to a release.
This discovery could lead to earlier intervention and treatment. The scientists evaluated plasma samples from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.
Eight participants “scored positively on a multicancer early detection (MCED) laboratory test.” These participants received a cancer diagnosis within the four months after their blood collection. For six of those patients, “investigators also were able to assess additional blood samples collected 3.1–3.5 years prior to diagnosis, and in four of these cases, tumor-derived mutations could also be identified in samples taken at the earlier timepoint.”
The study is published in Cancer Discovery.
