SCIENTISTS have made major progress on a blood test to detect brain tumours and monitor them in real time.
The test is thought to be over 90 per cent accurate, and could be used by GPs to pick up deadly growths.
Early research focuses on fast-growing glioblastomas, but it is being expanded to other kinds of brain tumours.
Currently, diagnosing and treating patients can be complex, requiring MRI scans and invasive surgical biopsies.
But researchers from the University of Manchester, assisted by teams in Denmark, say this can be drastically streamlined.
They found a pair of proteins in the blood that can identify tumours with high accuracy and provide insights into how the disease responds to treatment.
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Lead researcher Prof Petra Hamerlik said: “Glioblastoma is one of the most devastating cancers we face. The lack of reliable tests has been a major barrier to earlier diagnosis and treatment-response monitoring.
“The idea is to develop a device — something like a Covid test — to start with. If this is confirmed, it will be submitted to the regulatory bodies and hopefully be brought into the NHS within a decade.”
Dr Simon Newman, of the Brain Tumour Charity, said: “Early and accurate diagnosis is absolutely critical for people with brain tumours, yet current tools are limited and often invasive. This research therefore marks a significant step towards a simple blood test.”
A clinical trial is running at six UK sites and four abroad.
