British scientists have taken an important step in the screening of cancer. With the help of a blood test, it may be possible to detect if a person has developed cancer or could generally have a higher risk of developing the disease. This blood test may eliminate the need for certain types of biopsies, scientists report in "The FASEB Journal".
The method developed by researchers at the University of Bradford is called "sensitivity to the lymphocyte genome" or simply LGS test. To develop this test, doctors took blood samples from healthy people, cancer patients, and people who had a higher risk of developing cancer.
Lymphocytes from these samples were examined under a microscope using a special test using ultraviolet radiation. The study showed that the DNA of cancer patients can be more easily damaged by ultraviolet radiation. The results were confirmed by examinations of blood samples from patients with lung cancer and colon cancer, as well as patients with melanoma.