A revolutionary multi-cancer early detection blood test has demonstrated the ability to identify over 50 types of cancer up to a decade before clinical symptoms appear, with a false positive rate below 1%. The test could dramatically reduce cancer mortality and extend healthy lifespan.
Developed by GRAIL, the Galleri test analyzes cell-free DNA fragments in the blood for methylation patterns characteristic of different cancer types. In a landmark validation study of 140,000 participants, the test detected stage I cancers with 67% sensitivity and stage II cancers with 85% sensitivity — far earlier than cancers are typically diagnosed through conventional screening.
"Cancer mortality is largely a function of late detection," said Dr. Eric Klein, who led the clinical validation studies. "If we can shift diagnosis from stage III-IV to stage I-II for a majority of cancers, we could reduce cancer deaths by 40 to 60 percent."
The test is particularly valuable for cancers that currently lack effective screening methods, including pancreatic, ovarian, liver, and stomach cancers, which together account for a large proportion of cancer deaths.
Several countries are now integrating multi-cancer early detection into their public health screening programs. The UK's National Health Service has launched a 165,000-person trial, and preliminary results have been encouraging.
Longevity experts view early cancer detection as one of the most impactful near-term interventions for extending healthy lifespan, potentially adding 2 to 5 years to average life expectancy if broadly adopted.