A new experimental blood test capable of detecting six types of cancer at an early stage has shown encouraging results in research supported by the NIHR.
The study found that the liquid biopsy test, named TriOx, can improve the detection of trace amounts of cancer DNA in the blood. This could enable earlier diagnosis and reliably distinguish between patients with cancer and those without.
The research, funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and Innovate UK, has been published in Nature Communications.
Patient outcomes are significantly improved when cancer is detected early. Currently, almost half of all cancers in the UK are diagnosed at a late stage and screening programmes are limited to specific cancers such as cervical, breast, colorectal and lung.
In recent years, “liquid biopsies” have become a key focus in research as a less invasive alternative to existing diagnostic tests. Liquid biopsies show promise for finding cancers, even in their early stages. However, most liquid biopsy tests currently in the clinic only look at one or two features of the cancer DNA, which limits how well they can detect cancer.
This new test shows real promise in detecting multiple types of cancer in their earliest stages when the disease is hardest to detect.
The researchers combined a cutting-edge DNA analysis technique, called TAPS, with machine learning, to analyse multiple key features from the DNA circulating in the blood.
The TriOx test was evaluated on blood samples from patients with and without cancer. It demonstrated the ability to detect cancers (including early-stage cancers) and distinguish between people who had cancer and those that did not with 94.9% sensitivity and 88.8% specificity. For any cancer test, it's important to minimise the number of people without cancer who are subjected to unnecessary procedures, while helping those with cancer to receive treatment sooner.
The cancer types evaluated in this study were:
- colorectal
- oesophageal
- pancreatic
- renal
- ovarian
- breast
This approach improves the detection of the small fraction of cancer DNA, making the test particularly sensitive for identifying cancer.
Professor Anna Schuh, Professor of Molecular Diagnostics at the University of Oxford and lead researcher on the study, said: “Our new test brings together the best of cutting-edge science and machine learning. It allows us to look at the whole cancer genome, improving reliability.”
Dr Dimitrios Vavoulis, a computational biologist at the Oxford Molecular Diagnostics Centre and the Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, and co-lead researcher, said: “Many cancers, such as pancreatic and ovarian, often go unnoticed until they’ve advanced, when treatment is more difficult and less effective. Current screening methods are limited to a few cancers and are often invasive, deterring many from regular checks.
“Although our approach is still early in development, we envision that a simple blood draw could eventually be all that’s needed to screen for multiple cancers, giving patients and doctors a faster, more convenient tool to stay ahead of the disease.”
The research team is now developing and validating the test across more cancer types and larger patient groups. They are also exploring ways that TriOx could be integrated into routine healthcare in the future, with the goal of making early cancer detection as common as cholesterol or blood sugar testing.
