This new machine learning-based blood test technology can detect lung cancer prematurely so it can be treated early.
Researchers from the biotech company Delfi Diagnostics based in Baltimore have been able to develop a blood test technology based on machine learning which is capable of largely detecting the early stages of lung cancer.
The study, which has been collected by the journal Nature Communications, the team describes how this new diagnostic tool is capable of analyzing cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragmentation profiles throughout the genome, a series of nucleic acid fragments present in the bloodstream capable of indicating the presence of tumor cells.
As they say, their tool is capable of detecting 90% of cancer cases after a test where they put their technology into practice on 800 people who were examined.
This technology is ideal for accurately and prematurely detecting many cases of lung cancer. “These results suggest that lung cancer screening technology could help reduce lung cancer deaths by offering a convenient, high-throughput test to eligible individuals.”, Has indicated Peter bach, CMO of Delfi.
They anticipate that they have already begun the enrollment of a prospective case-control study of 1,700 patients in order to generate the clinical evidence that would support a hypothetical commercial screening test.
Compared to current procedures, the blood test is much easier to administer and treat, allowing researchers to examine people in shorter periods of time.