A large observational study of patients in England and Wales evaluated the effectiveness of the methylation-based multi-cancer early detection (MCED) blood test Galleri to identify over 50 types of cancer in symptomatic subjects. According to the University of Oxford researchers, who led the SYMPLIFY study, never before has an MCED test’s performance been evaluated in patients suspected of having some form of cancer.

“This is the first study to examine the performance of this blood test in a symptomatic population,” says study co-author Mark R. Middleton, PhD, professor of experimental cancer medicine, a consultant medical oncologist, and head of the Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. “The test has been developed for screening asymptomatic people in the general population. Looking at people with symptoms is important because most people with cancer have symptoms before they present.”

Dr Middleton, who is also director of the cancer research UKOxford Centre, adds, “Often, the symptoms are vague and family physicians have to work out whom to refer for invasive tests. We were interested in seeing how [this blood test] might perform here, to see if it could help sort out who needs more tests for what symptoms.” The study appears in Lancet Oncology (doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00277-2).

一项针对英格兰和威尔士患者的大型观察性研究评估了基于甲基化的多癌症早期检测 (MCED) 血液检测 Galleri 的有效性，以识别有症状受试者中的 50 多种癌症。负责 SYMPLIFY 研究的牛津大学研究人员表示，此前从未在疑似患有某种癌症的患者中评估过 MCED 测试的性能。

“这是第一项在有症状人群中检验血液检测效果的研究，”该研究的合著者、实验癌症医学教授、肿瘤内科顾问兼肿瘤科主任 Mark R. Middleton 博士说。在英国牛津大学。“该测试是为了筛查普通人群中的无症状人群而开发的。观察有症状的人很重要，因为大多数癌症患者在出现之前就有症状。”

兼任英国牛津中心癌症研究中心主任的米德尔顿博士补充道：“通常情况下，症状很模糊，家庭医生必须找出应该转诊给谁进行侵入性检查。我们有兴趣了解[这项血液测试]在这里的表现，看看它是否可以帮助找出谁需要对哪些症状进行更多测试。” 该研究发表在《柳叶刀肿瘤学》 (doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00277-2) 上。