Feasibility of blood testing combined with PET-CT to screen for cancer and guide intervention

Science. 2020 Jul 3;369(6499):eabb9601. doi: 10.1126/science.abb9601. Epub 2020 Apr 28.

Abstract

Cancer treatments are often more successful when the disease is detected early. We evaluated the feasibility and safety of multicancer blood testing coupled with positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) imaging to detect cancer in a prospective, interventional study of 10,006 women not previously known to have cancer. Positive blood tests were independently confirmed by a diagnostic PET-CT, which also localized the cancer. Twenty-six cancers were detected by blood testing. Of these, 15 underwent PET-CT imaging and nine (60%) were surgically excised. Twenty-four additional cancers were detected by standard-of-care screening and 46 by neither approach. One percent of participants underwent PET-CT imaging based on false-positive blood tests, and 0.22% underwent a futile invasive diagnostic procedure. These data demonstrate that multicancer blood testing combined with PET-CT can be safely incorporated into routine clinical care, in some cases leading to surgery with intent to cure.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Cohort Studies
  • Early Detection of Cancer / methods*
  • Female
  • Hematologic Tests*
  • Humans
  • Mass Screening / methods*
  • Neoplasms / blood*
  • Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography*