BALTIMORE — Imagine being tipped off years in advance about a future cancer diagnosis?
According to a recent study out of Johns Hopkins University, that could someday become a reality.
A past project called Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) collected blood samples to assess risk factors for heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and other cardiovascular diseases.
Lead author of the study, Yuxuan Wang, and a team of researchers analyzed samples from 52 ARIC participants.
Eight of them scored positively on what's known as a multi-cancer early detection (MCED) laboratory test.
Unfortunately all eight were officially diagnosed with cancer four months after their blood was taken.
Additional samples from six of those individuals were obtained between three and three-and-a-half years prior to diagnosis.
In four of six cases researchers discovered tumor-derived mutations, leading to the belief that some cancers may be detectable years before clinical signs or symptoms arise.
"Three years earlier provides time for intervention. The tumors are likely to be much less advanced and more likely to be curable," said Wang.
