Now, a simple blood test can spot 5 types of cancers

A simple blood test may be used to diagnose five types of cancers - colon, lung, breast, stomach and womb — at early stages, scientists say. Researchers from National Institute of Health (NIH) in US have identified a striking signature in tumour DNA that occurs in these types of cancers.

They also found evidence that this methylation signature may be present in many more types of cancer.

The specific signature results from a chemical modification of DNA called methylation, which can control the expression of genes like a dimmer on a light switch. Higher amounts of DNA methylation (hypermethylation), like that found by researchers in some tumour DNA, decreases a gene’s activity.

Based on this advance, researchers hope to spur development of a blood test that can be used to diagnose a variety of cancers at early stages, when treatments can be most effective.

“Finding a distinctive methylation-based signature is like looking for a spruce tree in a pine forest. It is a technical challenge to identify, but we found an elevated methylation signature around the gene known as ZNF154 that is unique to tumours,” said Laura Elnitski from NIH.

For the study, researchers developed a series of steps that uncovered telltale methylation marks in colon, lung, breast, stomach and endometrial cancers.